Will of Fire
by AUMaker
Summary: The Will of Fire is the tree of Life. Protected by its twelve Guardians, the tree remains safe from the people who seeks its powers. That is until the newly reformed Ootsutsuki Clan threatens the existence of the Will of Life. Now Hinata and her fellow Guardians must find the thirteenth exiled Guardian before the Ootsutsuki does. A race to find the missing Uzumaki.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I'm sorry for not updating The Kitsune's Yakuza! My laptop broke and I'm just borrowing someone's (My cousin's) laptop to make this short first chapter of a short story that I will make while I wait for my laptop to be fixed.

This chapter contains lots of grammatical errors. As you guys know, I am not a native English speaker.

This story will be short but and I already made the outline. Maybe this will have 13 chapters or less (depending on the changes I'll make on the outlines). Please review!

* * *

Shino watched his students gawking at him through his dark glasses. He can recognize most of the children attending the class. He spotted the Hyuga heiress, Hyuga Hanabi, amongst the attendees. He wondered if his fellow Guardian knows that her supposedly sheltered sister probably sneaked out of their Manor to attend the Academy's classes. This might not be the first time that the Hyuga heiress sneaked out either. Shino is not really certain, this is his first time attending this class as a guest.

"A-are y-you Ab-Aburame Shino-sama?" One pupil stuttered out in amazement.

Iruka, who was watching his pupils' reactions in amusement, smiled at the awed pupil.

"Yes, He is Aburame Shino-san. He will be here as a guest speaker for the day. As you know, I told you lot that my next lesson would be about the _Will of Fire_. Who better to teach you about it none other than one of its Guardians." Iruka said. The scarred man bowed towards Shino who bowed in return.

Shino has a great respect on the man. Besides, he and his companions had bloomed in the scarred man's care. They were once part of his class. That was before they were chosen as Guardians.

"Let's get to the lecture, Shino-san. I reckon that you're a busy man. Time is wasting." Iruka said, slightly bowing his head towards the Shino's imposing figure.

Shino, clad in a robe of white with green and golden leaves running up its silky form, walked towards the center of the stage. All was silent, gawking intently at the man. He was tall and oozing with power. A small buzzing sound can be heard coming from the man. Iruka's pupils deduced that the sound might be from the famed deadly insects which are said to inhabit the man's body. Nobody knows for sure, nobody lived to tell the tail.

"I want to start the lesson with a question. What do you know about the _Will of Fire_?" Shino asked in his low and deep voice.

"I know it is a tree." One pupil grumbled unintelligently.

"It is the essence of the Hidden Village of the Leaves. Without it, there would be no Konoha." A girl, who was obviously a child who reads scrolls and books more often, answered.

Shino nodded his head towards the two. "Correct. But the deeper definition is that the _Will of fire_ is the essence of life. Without the tree, there will be no life. The world that we live in would be barren and dead."

"Is that why it must be protected at all costs?" It was Hanabi who asked.

Shino slowly turned his head towards the heiress and slowly nodded his head. His brows visibly creased noting the girl that he recognizes her. Hanabi gulped and looked away.

"Yes. That's correct. Let's talk about the History of the _Will of Fire_ and the five elemental nations standing on its roots." Shino walked towards the board and placed a hand on the empty board. "As you know, the _Will of Fire_ is the source of all life energy. Flowing from its roots and connecting us to the tree is the phenomena called chakra. This pure matter flows within us, constantly growing and sustaining our bodies with life. Once we die, our chakra will return to the earth and to the roots of the _Will of Fire_."

"So, our dead ancestors are technically living within the tree as Chakras?" One pupil asked earning a nod from Shino. Iruka proudly watched his pupils, one of them would surely succeed Shino someday.

"Our chakra can be used as a weapon too. A weapon to protect its source. Not only as a weapon but an energy capable of doing such wonders." Shino then channeled his amber chakra into the board and carefully manipulating it to form a map of their continent. In the middle of the map is a golden tree. The pupils stood up in awe at the astounding chakra manipulation.

"These are the Elemental Nations." Shino gestured at the whole map. "In the middle of it all is the _Will of Fire_." He pointed at the center.

"The continent is divided into five lands. Within this five lands are five nations. On the east is the Mizu no Kuni where the Hidden village Kirigakure resides." He pointed at east side of the tree and tapped his finger at a patch of land near the coast where the symbol of the said village formed.

"On the south is the deserted land of Kaze no Kuni. There resides the Village of Sunagakure." Shino once again tapped his finger on a patch of land on the southern part of the map and the symbol of Suna bloomed there.

"On the hard and rocky lands of the West lies Tsuchi no Kuni where the Village of Iwagakure stands." He did the same thing as he did with the other lands.

"And on the northern part of the continent lies the politically powerful and mountainous land of Kaminari no Kuni where the Village of Kumogakure stands amongst its mountains." He pointed at the lands up north.

"Where is Konoha?" One pupil grumbled.

"Surely Konoha is more powerful! The Guardians of the Will of Fire are from Konoha!" One protested.

"Children, calm down. Shino-san is not yet done explaining." Iruka chastised the children.

Shino turned towards the pupils causing them to cease their protests. The fact the the guardian is so stoic and detached effectively shut them up. They were reminded that the man in front of them is not their usual sensei but a man of power.

Shino sighed inwardly and continued. "In the center of the Map, a bit below the sacred tree is Hi no kuni, the land where Konohagakure stands." The symbol of their village appeared right below the figure of the tree.

"We are so close to the Will of Fire! I wonder if we could go there someday!" One pupil exclaimed excitedly.

"Idiot, we can't see the tree, only the guardians can go near it. And only in dire need!" Hanabi grumbled in her seat, giving her ignorant classmate a glare.

"She is right. Only the Kages of the Hidden Villages and the twelve guardians are allowed to go near the tree." Iruka agreed. "In fact, Shino-san? Can you tell us anything about the twelve Guardians?" Iruka politely asked his former student.

"Aside from most of us came from this class?" Shino teased his former teacher with such a stoic face that Iruka awkwardly shifted his feet from where he is standing. It seems that his pupil has not changed at all. But Shino's more bearable than the Uchiha who was also his former pupil.

Iruka's current pupils though are beyond amazed. They touched their desks in such awe knowing that the some current generation of the Guardians were sitting at those very desks.

Shino continued his lecture ignoring the amazed sighs of the pupils. "I cannot disclose confidential information about the work of a Guardian but let's just say that our work is important. We follow strict codes and conducts. Aside from that, there were eight of us who came from this class and-"

"Eight?" A voice laced with disdain came from the back of the class.

Iruka knows what's going to happen next. He straightened his posture and called the boy who said it.

"Konohamaru!" Iruka barked at the boy. He knows that the grandson of Konoha's former Kage is still not over the loss of _that_ person.

The boy who has been silent throughout the lecture stood up and glared menacingly at the much more powerful being in front of him. He did not heed to his sensei's warning.

"Eight? It was nine. _He_ was part of the Guardians! _He_ is still part of the guardians!" Konohamaru insisted. His classmates looking at each other thoroughly confused.

One girl in a pigtail shared an eye contact with a boy with glasses who's sitting beside Konohamaru. The boy just shook his head and tug at Konohamaru's blue scarf. Konohamaru ignored his friend's actions and stood firm.

"Konohamaru-kun. I do not stand idly at this show of insubordination." Shino gave the boy an empty threat. The guardian's face ever unreadable.

Iruka sighed at this and walked towards the pre-teen to try and calm him down.

"Konohamaru-kun, we have talked about this. _That_ person did something unforgivable. No matter what it was that he did, he is forever exiled and hunted by the nations. Please understand the situation." Iruka attempted to reason with the pre-teen.

Konohamaru remained silent. He will not believe them. He believes that _he_ is innocent. That he will come back, beg for forgiveness then be reinstated as a Guardian.

"Naruto-nii will surely come back and prove that he is innocent! Just watch Iruka-sensei!" Konohamaru exclaimed.

A pang of sorrow ran through Iruka at the name. Memories of a jolly blond that everybody adored entered his mind. He was his favorite student, he was like his younger brother, his son.

Iruka turned his head towards the unmoving figure of his former pupil, Shino. He wondered what secrets the guardians are hiding from them, the secrets behind the exile of Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

 _There he stood with his sunny hair and bright blue eyes. His cheeks adorned with whiskers as he grinned like a mischievous fox. The scene behind him was sunny, oh so so sunny like him. He was the embodiment of light. The light that she craves._

 _She opened her arms to welcome him. His grin widened as he opened his own arms and engulfed her in a hug. He placed his nose into her hair breathed deeply. She can feel him smiling as he did this. He gently pushed her away and cupped her blushing cheeks with his large hands. He was a head taller than her so when he visibly crouched down, she knows that he's going to kiss her. She welcomed his lips with her own. She opened her mouth to let his adventurous tongue in. She wrapped her arms around him wanting the moment to last. Tongues tangled in a pleasurable fight. She tasted his saliva, she tasted him._

 _Then she felt his hands beginning to get too adventurous. One squeezed her bum and the other is tugging on her obi. Instead of recoiling and feel embarrassed like she always did, she welcomed the familiar touches and let her hands venture too. She felt the familiar burning desire that he always manages to spark within her, the desire to be connected to him and only him._

 _Before she knows it, her body touched the soft grass beneath them. Her yukata opened revealing her generous ripe breasts. The same breasts he is feasting upon. Her back arched as he took one nipple into his mouth and let his tongue tease the bud. A breathless moan came from her mouth as one long finger entered her womanhood and slowly rubbing the sensitive walls she possesses. Then he pulled his finger out and something bigger and warmer pocked her womanhood._

 _She smiled at him. Giving him permission to enter her like he always did. Then he dives and stretches her wall. All she felt was pleasure. So much pleasure. He must be experiencing the same kind of pleasure as she felt his breath quicken at every thrust._

" _N-Naruto-kun…" She breathes his name. The name of her beloved._

 _Then everything went dark. The sunny sky turned blood red. The pleasure she felt disappeared replaced by dread. Then she heard him speak in a demonic voice, like nine different entities speaking at the same time._

" _Enjoying yourself, Hina-hime?"_

Hinata bolted up. Her body shivering in the cold air. Although the dream ended with a nightmare, strangely enough, Hinata felt a spark of happiness within her. The happiness she always gets when she dreams of him. She knows that this feeling is wrong. There's nothing to be happy about dreaming of fornicating with a traitor. But he was her lover before he became a traitor. Before he broke one of the codes.

The flap of her tent opened. A cherry haired woman entered the tent with a sympathetic smile.

"We heard you gasping." The woman simply said.

Hinata gave the woman a pained smile. Tears gathered on the corner of her eyes.

"I miss him Sakura-san…" Hinata admitted. She curled her knees and embraced herself. "I want him back."

Sakura felt pity for the girl. She too misses the man Hinata loves. He was like a brother to her. She kneeled beside the woman and gave her a warm hug. She is heartbroken to see such a strong woman crying in a cold tent after dreaming of her lost lover.

"We all do, Hinata. But him coming back would never change the fact that he broke the law. It would never change the fact that he is now a-"

"Sakura." A cold deep voice called from outside of the tent.

Sakura sighed, irritated at the source of the voice. She shoot Hinata an apologizing look and Hinata smiled understandingly at her.

"Go, it must be important." Hinata told the pink-haired woman.

"I swear that husband of mine will have a thorough pounding if it isn't." Sakura hissed teasingly as she stood up and left the tent.

Hinata sat there wiping some stray tears. The bitter sorrow in her heart is still there. It never left her since the day he left. Well, he never left, he was exiled. And she knows that what Sakura said was true. What her beloved did was unacceptable. He broke the most importantly law in being a guardian and it was beyond forgivable. The people, if they ever find out why her beloved was exiled, would rather have him dead than forgiven. But Hinata's traitorous heart has already forgiven him. She loves him too much to really hate him. But she knows and acknowledged that what he did was very wrong. She wonders till this day on why he did such atrocity.

"It has already been four years since the incident and you lot are still mourning his loss." A head peaked into the tent.

Hinata sighed at the smiling pale man who probably did not notice the barbs in his words. "Sai-san, he is still alive. And it isn't usual that a generation would lose one of its Guardians in such way. He was loved by people."

Sai was taken aback at what his fellow Guardian said. He knows that Hinata might be the most gentle and polite person he has ever known. But it seems that when it comes to a certain former Guardian, the shy and gentle lamb becomes a lioness.

"You surprise me every day, Hinata-san. My first impression of you was that you are the weakest of the Guardians and wouldn't even hurt a fly, it seems that I was mistaken." Sai said completely entering the tent.

He sat a meter away from the midnight haired woman and studied her. She is very beautiful, a beauty that is different from all other woman. Unlike Sakura's fierce beauty or his own lover's seductive beauty, Hinata has this ethereal like beauty that sets her aside from other women. Sai wonders if the rumors about her and the traitor, Uzumaki, are true. Since he was assigned as the replacement of the exiled guardian, the one he observed to be the most saddened by Uzumaki's exile was Hinata. He concluded that her relationship with the traitor is beyond friendship.

Hinata smiled slightly at the ever smiling man. "Thank you for your compliment, Sai-san."

The tent once again opened and Sakura popped in.

"Time for us to go, Sasuke-kun's itching to get a new mission back in Konoha." She said with a smile.

"About time we have some real work." Sai agreed.

Unbeknownst to them, they would soon enter on a race to find the very traitor that broke the sacred law of the Guardians.

* * *

This is short. But the next chapter would be much much longer. The background on every Guardian will be shown next chapter. I hope you have a clear grasp on what kind of Universe they are in.


	2. Chapter 2

Yamato had to physically restrain himself from interfering to the atrocity he was currently witnessing. He silently cursed his Senpai, who was also his current superior. Why did he have to take this mission? He should have requested that one of the Guardians would be sent in his place instead. He does not have the proper temperament to stomach the gore he was witnessing. But he held himself back, it would be disastrous for him to blow his cover.

Yamato never thought that a simple mission given to him by the Hokage a year ago would end up like this. Kakashi, the newly appointed Hokage at that time, sent him on a simple mission to tail a suspicious cult forming in Iwagakure. He reported on a monthly basis to the spy Master, Jiraiya, and has been observing the cult from the outside and recently, the inside.

The cult is called Moonlight. Innocently enough, the cult worships the Moon. Since he became one of them, he had acquired information which increased the cult's threat little by little. It seems that the cult not only worships the moon, but the will of Fire itself. They dream of someday being able to do their weekly lamb sacrifices on the foot of the sacred tree. Yamato of course told Master Jiraiya of this. He still wonders why no Guardian was sent as back up or as his replacement. But he continued observing.

The progress was slow. The superiors of the cult are very secretive. They rarely spoke to the members below their rank. Yamato had observed that the superiors all have silver hair. He wonders if some of them might be related to Kakashi himself, who also has silver hair, although lighter.

It was a week later. Earlier that day, something big happened inside the cult. Men in silver and grey robes came inside the headquarters carrying a coffin made of pure silver. Yamato did not have time to send Jiraiya a missive because the Cult suddenly became extra strict. The lower members were not allowed to go inside the 'inner sanctum' where the cult usually does their prayers. Yamato had to disguise himself, yet again, as a member of the shamans who usually does the chants.

And now he is here, inside the inner sanctum, witnessing the death of a child who is sired by the High Priest himself.

"Take this innocent chakra sired from my loins as a sacrifice! Return to us oh powerful goddess of the Moon!" The High Priest chanted, as he raised the corpse of his son towards silver coffin which was surrounded by flowers, smelling of death and incense.

Yamato had to hold himself back from killing the man at that moment.

Another round of chanting began. Yamato had to follow protocol and bow his head towards the coffin. He can faintly hear the cries of the boy's mother in the background. His heart mourned for the woman, who did not expect that her son would be reduced as a sacrifice to a mortal corpse behind the coffin. Yamato decided that this cult will go down the moment he requests back up from the Hokage.

"Take this child's pure chakra! Chakra which descended from your blood, oh great mother! Aaaaah!" The High Priest chanted, ending the sentence with a mad wail of desperation.

Then Yamato saw the legendary phenomenon known as Ascendance. The Ascendance occurs when a person dies and their chakra leaves their body and returns to the ground. Only this time, Yamato observed that the greenish chakra the boy possessed did not flow down to the ground. But instead, it went inside the silver coffin. Yamato held back a gasp of shock as the green pure chakra disappeared inside the coffin.

 _'Impossible. Chakra from a deceased person should only descend into the ground and ascend into the tree. Not to this coffin! T-there's something more ominous going on here.'_ Yamato thought in dread.

"Yes! Yes! Take your fill, our beloved Mother!" The High Priest madly laughed.

It was then that the children, standing beside their parents were ripped away from them.

"No! Mayura!" One mother wailed, trying to reach out to her daughter who was openly crying in fear. The Men in silver held the protesting parents back and some were openly killed.

"Kaa-chan! Tou-chan save mee-!" Another child screamed before a knife was driven into his neck, killing him in an instant.

Yamato choked back a sob at the scene. His hand flew to the hidden kunai on his side. Flashes of the Academy's lessons and the training he went through to become an ANBU, also known as Konoha's black ops, kept him from tackling the assailants. He observed that most of the occultists who are not neither of those children's parents remained prone. One even vomited to the ground but remained in her place.

"I'm so glad I did not bring Takashi." He heard the man behind him whisper low enough that he was the only one who heard it. He also noted that the person beside him was shivering in fear. It seems that he was not the only one disturbed by the scene.

He realized that the superiors must have told these people to bring their children in for today's worship prayer. He decided that the superiors will die first once they raided the cult.

"Yes! Yes! More untainted Chakra for Mother! More! Appease Kaa-sama's appetite!" The High Priest wailed, almost dancing in front of the coffin.

A man, known to Yamato as the Head of the Cult, stood up and walked towards the coffin. From what Yamato could remember, the man's name is Momoshiki. Yamato had never seen the man up close. He only saw his back. But now he can clearly see the man's face. And to his shock, it was the eyes that drew his attention. They were white and pupil less. Just like a certain clan back in Konoha. Are the superiors related to the Hyugas? He wondered if Lady Hinata, one of the Guardians, could answer him.

"It is time… She is awake…" Momoshiki stated, causing the High Priest to jump in joy.

"Yes! Yes! Mother is back!"

The silver coffin then slowly opened. Everyone waited in bated breath at what lied beyond the silver coffin. Yamato's hold of the kunai tightened. He can feel the ominous chakra pouring out of the coffin. He had only felt such dark chakra once before. And it was not a memory he wanted to remember.

One pale leg stepped out of the coffin. Then a shapely woman rose out of the coffin. She was naked, only covered by her silver long hair. Her eyes were also white and pupil less. Yamato felt himself getting drenched by his own sweat. He felt oppressed by the aura the woman was giving. His heart pounded in great intensity. Not because of the woman's lack of clothes, but because of the fear that the woman had implemented inside him. And when the woman spoke, the fear intensified.

"Momoshiki… I thought you wanted me gone. I did not expect to see you as the one who would resurrect me." The woman spoke in a sultry voice. So seductive, so devoid of any light.

"I realized that I could not… Acquire… the power that I want without your help. Since we both have the same goal in mind… Why not team up together to accomplish it?" Momoshiki smiled. A smile so wicked that half of the occultists shivered in fear.

The woman crossed her arms below her breast, some of the males including the High priest openly ogled at the gorgeous woman.

"I can see that. But would I be willing to share with you?" She asked.

"The tree has grown larger and stronger than anything I have ever seen. This dimension's tree is the mother of all trees. Such power would be enough for the both of us. And in exchange, I will herald you as the Queen. Queen of all creation. Besides, you have acquired some of its powers already." Momoshiki proposed.

The woman's face lit up in glee. "Yes, such power is addicting. In fact… I want more. But if you want me as Queen, then I demand a King. A King who is equal to me. A King who would give me powerful children. Just like my past spouse gave me my traitorous but powerful sons who defeated me eons ago."

Momoshiki frowned. "I'm afraid that my power is currently below yours."

The woman laughed causing some, including Yamato, to flinch in fright.

"Of course it won't be you! I already can feel the being whose power is equal to mine walking in this planet's soil. He is strong, very strong. And I want him." The woman purred.

Momoshiki's brows rose. Such a man exists? Could it be one of the Kages? No matter, he would find him.

"I will find him for you, Lady Kaguya. And then you would cooperate with me, yes?" Momoshiki asked.

"Yes." The woman named Kaguya purred.

"Any other clue as to who is this man?" Momoshiki asked. He held his hand out for the woman to hold as she stood up. Some women who have the same characteristic as them, silver eyes and hair, appeared and draped a blanket over the Kaguya's naked body.

"All I can feel is that he is very powerful… His chakra feels light… Like the sun. Something that I hope would change."

Yamato had to hold back a scream. There was only one person who had that kind of chakra. Only one person. He has to go back to Konoha himself and report this! But his disappearance would surely alert the cult. He decided that he'll think of a solution later. Right now, he has to bear the weight of the realization on just how big the threat really is.

* * *

Yamato blended into the people slowly leaving the inner sanctum. After the traumatizing event, Momoshiki led the newly resurrected Kaguya to a private room and the rest of the superiors followed. The lowly members were left traumatized. One male tried to leave in hysterics and was probably planning on telling someone, but was struck down. Yamato stared at the carnage left by those who were responsible for the killings. Children's bodies were everywhere. Randomly scattered near the silver coffin. The woman, Kaguya, did not even care about the carnage when she left. Something that infuriated Yamato.

He was almost at the exit when someone bumped into him.

"Dispose of my corpse. That's an order Yamato-taicho." The person whispered on his ear.

Before he could react or even get a proper look at that person, who sounded like a female, she walked past him and suddenly wailed in agony.

"Ahhhh! My daughter! How could you!" The woman cried, then brandished a knife.

The men in silver robes were about to apprehend her when she suddenly stabbed herself. Everyone gaped at the spectacle. It seemed that the woman's sorrow drove her insane.

Something clicked inside Yamato and he immediately threw himself onto the woman. He silently thanked Kami that his current disguise was that of an old man.

"My child! Why did you do this!?" Yamato cried, thanking Kurenai for letting him watch those soap operas she loves so much.

"She's your daughter?" One of men in silver asked.

Yamato raised his head, his eyes glazed in tears, and nodded his head.

"Clean that mess, we already have so much to clean." One woman sneered. Yamato glared at her, summoning all the disgust he had felt throughout the day, and took the woman's body out of the Headquarters.

When he was a considerate distance away from the wretched place, he placed the body down and yanked out the knife from the woman's body, causing the woman to yelp.

"Ow! Yamato-taicho! You could have been gentler!" The woman hissed, sitting up and pressing a hand on her shallow wound. Her hands glowed green, indicating that she's materializing her chakra to heal herself.

"You still call me Taicho, even though you are superior to me now." He chuckled, as he took off the mask he was wearing.

"Old habits die hard." The woman smiled, as she also took off her mask. Blonde hair tumbled out and she took off her contacts lenses showing her cerulean eyes.

"Ino-chan, where's Shikamaru-kun and Chouji-kun?" Yamato asked. Normally, the blonde would be accompanied by her fellow Guardians. The three of them were known to be the most functional and balanced team in the circle of guardians.

"Three villages away from here. I'm actually telepathically speaking to them right now. Chouji compliments you for being able to blend into the cult for almost a year successfully." Ino stated.

Yamato's jaw almost dropped. For her to be able to forge a chakra based telepathy link miles away from her is astonishing. No wonder she was chosen as a Guardian at such a young age. This generation of Guardians was cut above the rest!

"Wait- you have been undercover for quite a while now? How come Jiraiya-sama did not tell me this?" He asked. He was so giving that old man a piece of his mind!

"Jiraiya-sama wanted our operation to be extra top secret, in case one of us needed to bail out. It paid off didn't it? Now, I have to report everything ASAP. Shikamaru and Chouji are already heading towards Konoha as we speak. This development is truly… shocking, for lack of better words." Ino stated, clearly disturbed.

"I will stay inside the cult in case if new info arises. We need to find him before they do."

Ino nodded her head. "Stay safe Yamato-taicho. I know you're capable of taking care of yourself, but that woman…" Ino visibly shivered. "She was the most terrifying person I have ever seen."

"Agreed. We might need the entire twelve Guardians and the Kages to apprehend her."

Ino shook her head in disdain. "No. We need more than that."

* * *

Sasuke clicked his tongue, reading the missive Shikamaru had just sent him. He slowly stroke the distraught hawk's feathers to calm it down. It might have been affected by his irritation.

"Sasuke-kun? What does it says?" Sakura asked her husband.

Sasuke faced the pink-haired beauty and almost shoved her the little piece of paper, causing her to glare at him and make Sai snicker in the background.

"We are being summoned by Kakashi-sensei. An SSS-class threat just arose." Sakura's eyes widened at the last part. "This is bad! We got to return to Konoha as soon as possible!"

"Is this the reason why Sasuke-kun became extra bitchy today?" Sai asked curiously, earning an amused giggle from Hinata.

Sasuke moved to attack Sai, but was restrained by his wife by grabbing him by the collar of the polo he is wearing.

"Hold up! It also says here, 'P.S: Could you please buy some dragon fruit on your way home? Temari's craving that shit.'" Sakura grew silent.

Sasuke, who is very familiar of his wife's temper, slowly untangled himself from her grip. She exploded a second later.

"THAT FUCKER!? WHO DOES HE THINK WE ARE?"

* * *

The moment that Hinata opened the door leading to where the Hokage was, she knew that something was about to ensue.

"SHIKAMARU. YOU FUCKER! WE HAD TO GO AROUND KONOHA JUST TO LOOK FOR YOUR FUCKING DRAGON FRUIT!" Sakura stormed inside the room and promptly threw the plastic bag she was holding towards the man who has a pineapple like hairstyle known as Shikamaru.

Shikamaru of course dodged the flying bag by instinct and it was a large man named Chouji who bothered to catch it.

"Tsk! Good luck when she gets pregnant Sasuke." A man who was in the corner of the room stated. The man has brown hair and two distinct inverted triangle tattoos on his cheeks. His name is Kiba. Sitting near Kiba is his trusty humongous dog, Akamaru.

Sasuke just gave the man a glare, scooped up his enraged wife and plopped down the office sofa, with her on his lap. Sakura of course struggled and was still cursing at Shikamaru.

Sai on the other hand, lunged towards the blond who was standing in front of the indifferent Kakashi, and promptly made out with her.

"Kiba-kun, Shino-kun!" Hinata happily walked towards her team mates.

Shino, who just came back from the academy, gave the short woman a pat on the head. Kiba hugged the smaller woman whom he sees as his little sister.

"Hinata! We missed you! Shino has been neglecting me! He has been going around the academy preaching!" Kiba whined while hugging the woman.

"I do not preach." Shino denied.

Hinata just giggled at the silliness.

"Such a youthful reunion!" A man wearing a tight green spandex exclaimed in passion. He is known as Rock Lee.

"How unprofessional of you lot. Kiba, let go of Hinata-sama. You are not worthy of her brotherly affections." A man with long silky brown hair scolded his fellow Guardians especially Kiba, who has yet to let go of Hinata. He is Neji, Hinata's cousin who is genetically her brother.

"Uncouth behavior. You guys act like a bunch of teenagers." A woman who has a braided hair exclaimed. She is Ten Ten.

Kakashi, who is sitting at his desk watching the whole spectacle unfold, coughed loudly. All of them then straightened up and formed a horizontal line across his desk, the silliness forgotten.

"As you know, you are called here because of a… growing threat." Kakashi stated.

He studied each of the twelve's forms. He suddenly remembered a memory where he was standing behind this line near the door as he watched the legendary fifth Hokage, Tsunade, relay instructions to the newly appointed Guardians. But another person was standing to where Sai stood. That person had blond sunny hair. He was tall, two centimeters shorter than Sasuke, who was standing on his left. He dwarfed Hinata, who was standing by his right. Kakashi watched him sneaked a hand behind Hinata and squeezed her bum. Kakashi saw Hinata's ears redden. Kakashi chuckled and the man turned his golden head slightly towards Kakashi and winked at the older man. Kakashi saw his blue eyes sparkle as he mouthed.

 _'Don't tell Baa-chan, Kakashi-sensei!'_

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi snapped back to reality. He saw that Ino was addressing him. Around Ino are the Guardians, who look like they couldn't believe what they just heard. Ino must have told them of the situation.

"So, they are looking for him…" Hinata whispered. Kakashi saw that Sakura was currently holding the shorter girl's shoulders, supporting her. Hinata must have nearly fainted when she found out who was the person the cult are looking for.

"Yes." He confirmed, just for the sake of making it look like he was paying attention.

"We need to find him." Neji stated in finality.

Some of them nodded their heads. Some, like Hinata, are still disturbed.

"Not all of you will go. Some will be situated near the tree." Kakashi stated, nodding towards Neji's team. "Some will research about this woman named Kaguya. That means your team Shikamaru, and Shino will accompany you as well." He nodded towards Shikamaru and Shino. "The rest will look for him." He nodded towards Sasuke.

He noted that Sasuke looked like he was about to jump into action.

"I want to warn you… When you find him, he will not be the man you have known." Kakashi warned them, looking at each of their faces before stopping at Hinata's direction. "There's a possibility that you would have to apprehend him." He watched Hinata's face pale.

"Expect a monster. Not a man."

* * *

"Yuudai-kun! The order's ready!"

"Coming!" The red-haired man named Yuudai shouted as he ran towards the kitchen and took the bowls of ramen to the costumers.

"Thank you, handsome." The woman winked flirtatiously at the red-haired man who smiled awkwardly at the woman.

The men drinking beside the flirtatious woman laughed at her. "You have no chance girly! Yuudai is already committed to his dream girl!" One of the men called.

Yuudai just grinned at the men and gave them a thumbs up. "You guys knows me so well!" he called.

The woman pouted at the newly acquired knowledge. She studied the retreating figure of the red haired man. In his stay here in Kumogakure, the man named Yuudai came looking for a job at the noodle house 'Ryuu' and instantly became popular to the patrons of the local noodle house. He was charming and handsome with his red hair and violet eyes. All women wanted him, but he remained mysterious and secretive. That only made him more appealing to the women.

Yuudai sighed in frustration and combed a hand on his red hair. He entered the steaming kitchen and placed tea cups on his tray.

"Girl problems?" The noodle house owner and chef, Ryota, asked the man. Ryota still remembered the day young Yuudai came to him, looking for a place to stay. With no child of his own Ryota took in the man and gave him a home, in exchange for his service as a waiter in his humble noodle house. Of course, Ryota is aware that the man is physically appealing to the women. He was actually shocked to see such a muscular and tall man shivering at his door that faithful night they met.

"No. You know that I'm not interested on anyone here. I'm just a bit under the weather." Yuudai stated, while massaging his own forehead.

"Go upstairs boy. Rest for a while. I can handle this. It's a slow day." The old man stated with a smile.

Yuudai gratefully bowed down to the old man and took off his apron. He bounded up to the second floor and entered his room. The moment that he closed the door, his blood red hair melted to blond. His pale skin darkened to a tan. His violet eyes turned deep blue and three whisker-like line appeared on each cheek.

He threw himself on the bed and sighed. He turned to his back and opened his eyes. But instead of blue, his eyes are red with an almond shape pupil.

"I can see what you mean… They're on the move… Like they're looking for someone…"

There was silence before the man talked again.

"I do not know… Yes, they might be looking for us… I don't care if they kill me…"

There was silence once again.

"I don't care what you guys want…"

Silence.

"I only want her. My Hinata."

* * *

AN: Here's the new chapter! I hope you like it! To those who wants to know what Naruto did, I don't know if I'll reveal it next chapter. As you know, the Will of Fire is basically a God Tree only that I modified it. Will it still bear a Chakra Fruit? Let's find out. Its appearance is also different from a God Tree, the Will of Fire is basically a willow tree only that it's golden.

Thank you so much to those who favorite, followed and reviewed! Hugs and kisses to you all!

Special thanks to my beta gio08 who stayed up late to proof read this chapter! More powers to you my friend!


	3. Chapter 3

It would have been a perfect day. Kiba sighed, looking at the clear blue skies. The trees are blowing with the wind, birds chirping in the background. All in all, it's a perfect day. Kiba even observed a doe giving birth to her calf a mile away, showing that the Will of Fire is still giving life around it, not knowing that a huge threat is looming above the it's golden leaves. Kiba winced at how vulnerable the tree can be. It is the tree that everyone's lives depends on, but that tree itself is so freaking fragile. The testaments to its fragility are the rules that had been made towards its Guardians, just to keep it safe from its protectors themselves.

Kiba stopped his sightseeing for a while when he heard Sasuke click his tongue in irritation.

"We should be moving out of Hi no Kuni by now. And yet we are grounded here without any leads." The raven haired Uchiha growled.

Sakura sighed as she stood up from where she was sitting and strode towards the silent Hinata.

"Hinata. You must pull yourself together. The sooner we find him, the better. And you knew him best… He was your husband." The pink haired woman stated as she engulfed Hinata in a sympathetic hug.

Kiba waved his hand. "He still is actually. They never got to have an official divorce. The fifth threw him away in a jiffy."

Akamaru barked at his owner, causing Kiba to frown.

"I'm sorry. You're right Akamaru, it was never Tsunade-sama's fault. She didn't have a choice." Kiba corrected himself.

Sai, who was just sitting a meter away from the irritated Uchiha, gave Sasuke a sketch. "Does Naruto looks like this?"

The sketch was of the fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, only that he has three whisker-like birthmarks on each cheek. Exactly how the others described Naruto to Sai.

But Sasuke frowned. "Naruto's eyes are rounder, and I don't think he would grow his hair as long as his father."

Sakura let go of the devastated girl in her arms and smiled at Sai. "I always forgot that you had never seen Naruto before."

Sai nodded to Sakura. "I have only been inside Konoha's walls a couple of times during my childhood, but I have heard of him before. Who does not know of the Fourth Hokage's only son? I heard that he started as a lazy and idiotic child who greatly disappointed the Academy's instructors but rose into one of the most powerful students, who was able to rival the Uchiha's genius child." He peered at Sasuke during his last part and Sasuke nodded his head in confirmation. Naruto was the only one who was able to rival his strength, that much is true.

Kiba who was curious of the sketch, took a peak behind Sasuke.

"But he does have his father's jaw line and high cheek bones. Not to mention the hair and eyes. He is almost like the Fourth's carbon copy." Kiba stated while stroking his chin.

"No."

They all turned their heads towards the woman who had been silent throughout their journey.

"Naruto-kun's eyes are much darker than Minato-sama's. And his jaw is less defined. Naruto-kun's hair is much brighter than Minato-sama's and spikier. He does not like having long hair, so he would have cut it to a crop." Hinata murmured, lost in her memories.

Sakura frowned and brought her hand behind the woman's back. She still remembered the day Naruto and Hinata got married. It was a small wedding. They were freshly out of the Academy at the age of seventeen during that time. Many people thought that they were too young to marry, but the lovebirds didn't care. They got married in a private ceremony, where only their family and friends were invited. Hiashi, Hinata's father, was the one who organized the wedding, much to their shock. The reason was that Minato was afraid to hand the wedding organization to his wife, because he knew that she would turn the wedding into a continental scale event.

Naruto and Hinata were so happy during that time. Sakura knew that Naruto had been wanting to marry Hinata and raise a family of his own. Both had been planning on having a child that year, but a month after their wedding, they were called by the fifth because they were chosen to be the next guardians. Naruto was both ecstatic and disappointed. It meant that he and Hinata would have to wait for a while until they can procure a child. After their inauguration, Naruto had proven himself to be a very good Guardian. He had this weird connection towards the tree. He had the ability to sense if someone is trying to approach the tree. They should have seen the signs that Naruto was different. They should have known that Naruto would do what he had done. They should have been able to stop him for his own sake.

"So, what now?" Kiba asked.

There was a moment of silence. Hinata fiddled with her thumb, still lost in her memories. Sakura can't blame her though. It is not every day that you would just find out that a possible threat to the world is looking for your husband with the intent to either destroy or marry him. She knew that Hinata had never moved on from Naruto's exile. Hinata had tried to find him before and was threatened by the council themselves to stop.

All of a sudden, Sasuke, the genius that he is, thought of a good place where they can get a lead on where to find the exiled Uzumaki.

"Get up. We're going to Mizu no Kuni." He stated.

Kiba's eyebrow rose. "And what would we do there?"

Sasuke folded his arms over his chest. "Uzushiogakure." He simply stated.

Hinata shook her head. "If you think Minato-sama and Kushina-sama would know anything about Naruto-kun's whereabouts, you're wrong. Just like me, they're being monitored by the council. That is why I am living with them. The council wanted to watch over us at the same time."

Sakura scoffed at the mention of Konoha's council. The council has no hold over Konoha and its people, only the Hokage does. What the council does is to make sure that the people abides to Konoha's laws. The council consists of Konoha's clan heads and five elders. Their purpose is to become the ears that would listen to Konoha's people and the mouths who would tell the Hokage of the people's cries. Although she does not like the fact that not only Naruto's family were being monitored by them, but also Naruto's friends, who are mostly composed of the Clan heads' children. But she also thanked them because without the Clan heads, Naruto would have been executed for his crimes.

"Not them. Another person. You probably know her. She's good at deceiving." Sasuke then winced at a memory. "In fact, I never wanted to see her again."

Sakura then clapped her hands in glee. "Oh! Her! Let's go then! It's been awhile! I want to greet my old friend!"

Sai and Kiba shared a look. Both clueless on who this girl might be.

* * *

"Welcome to Ryuu Ramen!" The red-haired man greeted as they entered the little ramen shop.

"Nice to see you, Yuudai-kun! The last time I saw you was under the moon!" A large man with dark sunglasses and white hair rapped horribly. The man is large and dark skinned.

The younger man with half of his white hair covering his left eye winced at his companion's awful rapping. "I'm sorry for his behavior, Yuudai-kun."

Yuudai waved off his apology. "Like I don't know Bee-san already! No need to apologize Darui" He told the bored looking guy, then turned to the larger man. "Yo! Bee-san! The usual?"

Kirabi grinned at the red-haired man he had come to call as a friend. "You know me so well, bakayaro! Konoyaro!"

Some of the patrons just shook their heads in amusement. Kirabi, who is the adopted brother of the Raikage, is also a patron to the noodle house. Darui was not though. He had only started to frequent the noodle house when he met the red haired man Yuudai. Their first meeting was strange to be exact. He is part of the Raikage's bodyguards and was tasked to dispatch a group of raiders who were making camp at the foot of the mountains where Kumogakure rests. He had been ready to fight, only to find that the raiders had already been dispatched. He found Yuudai, holding a sack of shitake mushrooms, standing over one of the raider's body. It was then that he had a suspicion that the Yuudai was not the man he says he is. So he spied on the man, started accompanying Bee and the other teams who eats at the noodle house. After half a year of spying, he found out that Yuudai is harmless. The man was just a pretty face, who's genuinely nice and frequently stays out of trouble. It might have been that Yuudai just so happened to come across the already beaten raiders. Must have been a coincidence.

Darui was brought back to reality when Yuudai placed a big bowl of Tonkutsu Ramen in front of him.

"Where's Omoi, Karui and Samui by the way? I haven't seen them for days now." Yuudai asked.

Bee slurped his noodles before answering. "Missions, bro. The life of a military brat is hard, yo. Always on the move, ya know."

Yuudai smirked. "Yeah, how should I know?" He said, almost wistfully, causing Darui's eyebrow to rise up.

"Where you part of the military in some village before, Yuudai-kun?" Darui asked carefully.

He saw Yuudai visibly stiffen and smile. Well, it was more like a wince than a smile.

"Yeah, I got kicked out though." Technically, Yuudai was not lying at all.

Bee clicked his tongue. "Must have sucked. It seems that you were not powerful enough."

Yuudai smirked and murmured 'Quite the contrary'. The red haired man must have thought that Darui did not hear him.

"Which village were you from, Yuudai-kun?" Darui asked. His tone probing.

Yuudai chuckled nervously. He figured out that it's not good to lie in front of military men, especially when he himself is not good at lying.

"I was from Konoha." He said.

One of the patrons who overheard the conversation gasped. "Wow! Did you work besides the current generation of guardians? They're about your age right?"

Yuudai grinned. "Yeah! They're super cool!" He gave them a thumbs up.

Bee himself smirked at that. "Nobody can beat the last Guardians in my opinion. Especially with the Fourth Hokage actively participating in their skirmishes." He manage to say without rapping. It only meant that Bee was being serious.

"You fought against the Fourth Hokage once, didn't you Bee-sama?" Darui asked for confirmation.

Yuudai's violet eyes went wide. "Woah! Did you Bee-san!?"

Kirabi smirked. "I am strong, but Yondaime Hokage's another kind of strong, Bakayaro! Konoyaro!"

One of the patrons once again commented. "Too bad his son went rogue they say. He may be strong, but it seems that he was not good at raising his brat."

Yuudai stiffened. He held himself back from retorting.

"Yeah! Wasn't that guy one of the guardians?" Another called.

"Should we really trust Konoha to choose the Guardians if they can't choose well?" Another asked, causing the others to nod their heads.

Darui was about to say something when the table they were dining on suddenly split in half. His and Bee's ramen toppled together and the bowls rolled to the edge of the destroyed table before silence dominated the shop, as they gaped at ruined table.

"What happened!?" Ryota, the owner of the shop, ran out of the kitchen to investigate the loud sound. He only found his patrons gaping at the table where Darui and Bee were feasting on. Yuudai stood right across the pair, with his hand still touching the place where the table split in half.

"I-I didn't know that this table was so fragile! I-it must have been the termites!" Yuudai nervously explained. Nobody commented that the table was made out of an eight inch piece of thick wood. "Let me just get you new bowls of Ramen!" he frantically continued, afraid that they might lose customers. He can already feel Ryota's painful pinch on his sides.

Bee laughed all of a sudden, breaking the tension that was slowly rising.

"That's okay Yuudai-kun! We are leaving anyway! We'll come back tomorrow for those bowls! Bakayaro!" Bee exclaimed raising a fist towards Yuudai, who placed his own fist against his.

"Count on it!" Yuudai stated with a grin, happy to know that they won't lose costumers and he won't get Ryota's mighty pinch.

Bee stood up and Darui silently followed his Boss's younger brother. They shared a look while on the way out, both of them felt the tell tale spike of chakra from Yuudai. The chakra spike was akin to the chakra spike the Raikage releases in one of his fits. Maybe even stronger. Both decided to keep a close eye on the supposedly harmless ramen boy.

Yuudai watched them leave. He saw them share a look and he knew then that they are getting suspicious of him.

 _ **'That was a very wrong move.'**_ A gruff deep voice rang inside Yuudai's head.

 _'I know. I may have to leave this village soon.'_ Yuudai answered.

 _ **'Go to somewhere with lots of water!'**_ Another voice, different from the first one stated.

 _ **'Of course! Has it ever occurred to you that you might be the only one who likes water, Isobu?'**_ An elegant feminine voice hissed.

 _'I told you guys, no arguing inside my head.'_ Yuudai remarked.

 _ **'But I like Water too.'**_ Another voice remarked.

 _'Don't start it Kokuo.'_ Yuudai hissed.

Then there was a dark ominous laugh inside Yuudai's head. He knows whose laugh that was.

 _ **'Listen to him my siblings.'**_ The dark voice stated. His voice much deeper than the other voices _ **.**_ _ **'We are the reason why he is always on the run. May as well give him the… respect… that he deserves.'**_

Yuudai grinned. _'You're getting good at this, Kurama. I almost believed you.'_

 _ **'You wound me, brat. I was being genuine.'**_ The voice stated, Yuudai can already picture him smirking.

 _'Genuine my ass.'_

* * *

Kiba gaped at the sight of the famed Uzushiogakure. He studied the tall buildings and the wide river flowing across the village.

"Why don't we have these skyscrapers?!" Kiba exclaimed, his mouth wide open just studying one building.

Hinata smiled at her close friend. "In case of Tsunamis." She stated while walking past him.

Sai patted Kiba's back. He too is amazed at the sight of this not so small village. But unlike Kiba, he is not openly drooling at the magnificent sight.

Hinata led them to the direction of the Uzumaki/Namikaze compound. They agreed that Hinata should visit her in-laws first, it had been months since she came home. Not only her in-laws, but a certain boy that Hinata cherishes more than her own life, needed to be visited.

It wasn't long till some of the civilians they passed by recognized the Guardians. Some openly gaped at them, slack jawed. Some greeted them with the customary bow. Most of the merchants who sell vegetables and fish openly greeted Hinata with familiarity. It seemed that Hinata accompanied Kushina in her daily grocery shopping quite often.

Kiba once again drooled at the sight of one of Uzushio's large bridges. It seems that Kushina and Minato are living on the island which is still part of Uzushiogakure.

Sakura peered down the bridge and found the source of the village's name. Hundreds of whirlpools in all sizes littered the waters below. What is even more amazing, she can see some civilians casually swimming in this spring afternoon, like those whirlpools of death were not meters away from them. She wondered if the people here somehow had different chakra components than the others, with how they can withstand the strong currents of the whirlpool infested waters below.

After minutes of walking, Hinata stopped for a while to point out to them the building that had been her home for the past few years. The building, unlike the other buildings around it, is short. It looked more like a compound from Konoha rather than a building in Uzushio.

"I thought people preferred taller structures here." Kiba asked his fellow Guardian.

Hinata nodded her head. "Yes, but even Tsunamis cannot take down a building that the fourth Hokage and an ex Guardian had built."

Sakura smirked at this. "Spoken like a true Uzumaki."

Hinata blushed and looked down bashfully. "I-I was just quoting Kushina-sama!"

Before anyone could make further comments, a flash of blond took their attention. A giggling bundle of joy came running towards their direction.

"Mama!" The bundle exclaimed with his arms open.

Hinata's face transformed. Her stressed expression melted and was replaced with pure joy. It was like she just saw the light just beyond the dark tunnel. She couldn't contain her joy at seeing the child that she had carried inside her womb for nine months. The only thing that her beloved left her.

"Boruto!" Hinata called, with such motherly voice.

The bright haired child launched himself to Hinata's arms. He squealed in delight at being engulfed with his mother's hug. The three year old child peppered his mother's face with kisses.

"I missed Mama!" He exclaimed, his bright blue eyes sparkling with adoration.

Hinata's eyes almost watered at the sheer love she felt towards the blond haired and blue eyed child. Boruto, her beloved Boruto, was conceived the night before Naruto was exiled. She can still remember that night like it was just yesterday. She should have noticed Naruto's peculiar behavior during that night. Naruto had just come home from an SSS-class mission. Only he and Sasuke were called to solve the case. The moment they came home, Naruto took her to bed and made love to her all night long. The next morning, Naruto was arrested. Then Sasuke told them of the incident. Naruto was imprisoned for a week before he was exiled. That week felt like a nightmare to Hinata. The week where everything just crumbled down. Hinata became depressed, she even tried to leave the village, but failed after Neji and his team apprehended her. A month later she found out that she was pregnant. It was Kushina and Minato who took her in, cared for her as her belly grew. She tried to send letters to her exiled husband, telling him of their child. But she knew that those hawks were intercepted. It was because of the combined voices of her father and her in-laws that she stopped looking for Naruto. Although still depressed, Hinata found happiness with their son.

"Mama! Jiji taught me bout da twee!" Boruto enthusiastically reported to her.

Hinata smiled and kissed his son's brow. "That's good. Can you still remember them, dear?" She pointed to her companions.

Boruto's brows scrunched up as his little mind tried to remember their faces.

"It's Dog boy." He pointed to Kiba. "Cherry" He pointed to Sakura. "I don't know you." He pointed to Sai. "And Uncle Teme." He pointed to Sasuke with a smug grin.

Kiba laughed. "He's Naruto's son alright!" He exclaimed between laughs.

Sakura took the boy from his mother's arms and proceeded to hug the child. "Awww! I don't mind you calling me Cherry! I'll be your Aunt Cherry!" She gushed.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and gently patted the boy's head. He then bypassed them and headed towards the compound.

"Is this what Shino-san feels when people forget about him?" Sai murmured suddenly enlightened.

The group followed Sasuke's lead. Boruto talked nonstop to his mother and Aunt, giving Sakura a hard time holding onto him as he exaggeratedly acted upon his stories.

"Ah! I expected Hinata-chan to be home, but I didn't expect her to bring visitors!"

Walking towards their direction is the legendary Fourth Hokage, Namikaze/ Uzumaki Minato, in his pink apron. Kiba had to hold his laugh at the sight of the man who conquered Kumo's army during Kumo's rebellion in a pink frilly apron.

"Good day, Minato-sama." Hinata greeted her father-in-law with a smile.

Minato sighed and waved a hand. "Come onnn Hinata-chan, how many times do we have to tell you…? We want you to call us father and mother. Naruto would have loved to hear you refer us like that." His eyes turned wistful, remembering his son. "After all this time… Anyway, it's good to see you home, child, and you're just in time. Mother is making Sakura Mochi."

Boruto squealed at this. "Sakura Mochi! You have the same name Sakura-san! Can you be eaten too?" He poked Sakura's cheeks and the bubble gum head girl just laughed.

Sasuke smirked at the boy. "I'm the only one allowed to eat her."

Sakura almost lost her footing.

"That's unfair." Boruto pouted, completely oblivious to the innuendo.

Hinata just gave Sasuke the eye as she took her son from Sakura and led the group inside the compound. Sakura gave Sasuke the 'I'm watching you' sign while Sai just chuckled at the couple.

"What's the news Hinata-chan? I thought that you'll be away for a few more weeks because of the missions. You're back early?" Minato asked her.

Hinata just sighed. "It's confidential, Mina- father" she paused, remembering what Minato said just moments ago." But I would really love to tell you about it."

The moment they entered the house, two red-head women came to greet them.

"Hinata-chan! What a surprise!" Kushina, a beautiful woman with long red hair and beautiful grey violet eyes, exclaimed. In her hands is a tray filled with pink rice balls covered with pickled Sakura leaves.

"Sakura-chan!?" The younger red-head exclaimed, a Sakura mochi poised near her mouth.

Sakura immediately recognized the younger red-head as her former rival and her current friend, Uzumaki Karin. Karin once attended Konoha's Military Academy and became Sakura's rival for Sasuke's affection. It was when it became evident that Sasuke might choose Sakura that Karin accepted her defeat and befriended the pink haired woman. Much to Karin's shock, she started falling in love with the pink beauty. Karin just concluded that she wanted both of her loved ones to be happy and watched them get married to each other. A sad story for Karin, but it all worked out in the end. She is currently engaged to a certain blue haired soldier from Kiri and will be married by the end of the year.

"Just the person we need." Sasuke stated, nodding his head towards Karin.

Karin switched her gaze from Sakura to Sasuke to Minato. "M-me? What did I do?" She stuttered.

Sasuke approached her. "I may as well tell you. We need to find Naruto."

In a flash, Minato travelled to Kushina's side and caught the falling tray of sweets, which she let go upon hearing her son's name.

"Find Naruto?!" Minato exclaimed, slowly putting down the tray in the table while holding his wife's back. She looked pale enough to faint.

"Naruto? Isn't that Papa, Mama?" Boruto asked his mother with wide eyes. Hinata just nodded her head and nuzzled her son's neck.

Karin abruptly stood up. "I-If the council sent you, I will have no part in this!" She hissed. She hated the council. They kept secrets from them and the Guardians are forced to obey. She would have accepted her cousin's exile if they only told them why he was exiled in the first place.

"Kakashi-sensei sent us, Karin. We really need to find Naruto immediately. For everybody's sake." Sakura begged.

Kushina, who regained her senses, stomped her foot. "Karin will not speak anything about Naruto as long as you won't tell us of the details that made my son into a fugitive! Why are you so secretive about it that even Minato, who was a former Hokage, was denied access to the files regarding my son's crime!" she exclaimed in anger.

"Father…" Hinata silently begged Minato to tell Kushina of the protocol.

Minato shook his head. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan. But mother's right. We need to know. If finding Naruto is really this important, then we have to know what we are up against."

Kiba's brows furrowed, he shifted his gaze to their mission's leader. Sai, Sakura and Hinata did the same. Sasuke's expression remained stoic, but he let out a sigh a minute later.

"Okay… I will tell you… I will tell you everything that happened during our SSS-class mission."

* * *

AN: I would like to say that they are not referred to as Ninjas. There are no ninjas in this universe. So they are part of the military. But they are trained just like a Samurai or Naruto!Ninja were.

Boruto was conceived right after Naruto committed the crime. That will be important later on.

Shout out to Kedo who almost figured out Naruto's crime.

Special thanks to my awesome beta gio08 who spent hours editing this chapter! More powers to you!


	4. Chapter 4

"The Will of Fire? In danger? What kind of danger baa-chan!?"

Sasuke watched Naruto flailing his hands like he was drowning. Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, just watched the panicked man with indifference. Naruto overreacting to missions is not new to them. But Sasuke can observe that the Hokage seems distressed. Her shoulders are stiff and there are dark circles around her eyes. Something tells Sasuke that Tsunade had been not sleeping.

"Calm down, brat." Tsunade hissed while massaging her forehead.

"Baa-chan? Are you alright?" Naruto asked, very worried.

Tsunade just smiled at the boy she has come to think as her grandchild. But she can't help but worry about the threat that has befallen upon them.

"Have any of you noticed that the crops have not been growing very well?" Tsunade asked out of the blue.

Naruto shifted his blue eyes to the stoic Uchiha. "Well, Hinata's vegetables are not growing well, and Himawari-chan just wilted this morning." Naruto then blushed at the fact that he just admitted that he named his flowers in his shared garden with Hinata. But he was telling the truth, his sunflower plant was slowly wilting and no matter how hard he and Hinata tried to revive it, it still died. Poor Himawari-chan. He was hoping that the plant would have survived until he and Hinata would have had a daughter and name her after the plant. He was hoping to honor the child with a flower that he had been taking care of since his marriage to Hinata.

"It's because of the Tree isn't it?" Sasuke concluded. He had observed the sudden shift in the wind. Just last week, his tomato plant died, although Sakura had been tending to it daily. Not to mention the trees are shedding their green healthy leaves. Something sinister is going on.

Tsunade sighed. "Yes. Neji just reported this morning that they had found the cause. They visited the tree and found out a strange anomaly. A dark cloud was seen right at the base of the tree. They can't go near it to investigate."

Naruto clicked his tongue in irritation. "Whoever fucking made these laws that we are not allowed to go near the tree is an idiot."

Tsunade just glared at the blond. "The tree is powerful, Naruto, and very fragile. We don't know what will happen if a physical entity will go near it. Better safe than sorry. Just one wrong move and the tree could die, ending all life here on this planet."

Naruto glared back. "But that doesn't help our current cause, now would it? It's a fucking hindrance. How would we save the tree if we don't fucking know what we are dealing with!" he retorted.

Tsunade knew that Naruto has a point. But still, the laws had been written since the birth of time. Their ancestors honored the law. No living thing should go near the tree. The reason remains a mystery. But nobody dared to break the sacred law.

Sasuke decided to break the rising tension. "What did Shikamaru theorize about the matter? I believe he has the answer, he always does." he asked.

Tsunade shifted her attention the raven-head. "You're right. I was going to tell you of his theory before Naruto interrupted me." She glared at the blond, who just raised both his shoulders. "Shikamaru believes that it is the manifestation of all the dark Chakra the tree had gathered for eons now."

Naruto's brow rose. "Dark Chakra?"

"Yes. Those who had died in vain or died harboring great wraths manifests a tainted chakra. That is why a purification ceremony is always done to the bodies to those who have died. But those who died in war or among other things, were not purified. Their tainted chakra goes back to the tree and slowly piles up together and poisons the very tree it came from." Tsunade moved out from her desk and peered out of the glass window overlooking Konoha. "Think of it as a tumor. The dead cells of the body piles up together to create a disease. That, as what Shikamaru believes, is what is killing the tree."

Naruto was shocked speechless. Sasuke was the one who gained his wits first.

"Why are you not calling on the other Guardians? This is a dire threat." Sasuke stated.

"I don't want to call on a mass panic. Only we and the other Kage's know of this development. And the two of you are our strongest aces. We want you to go and purify the tree." Tsunade explained.

"How?" Naruto asked. His stance determined, like he was ready to move.

Tsunade bent over and took something out from under her desk. When she straightened up, in her hand was an arrow with a glowing pouch. "This is an arrow Jiraiya had made. In this pouch, is purified chakra. We hope that with this chakra, the anomaly would dissipate, even if just a little, until we can find a better way to cure it."

Naruto's eyes widened. "T-The only way you can get pure chakra… is through the Will of Fire's roots… That is impossible, as that would be breaking one of the three sacred laws. Another is through a newborn child." Naruto whispered in a deep tone. His face becoming angrier every second.

"I-It was for the greater good." Tsunade's voice cracked, like she was about to cry.

Sasuke remained frozen. For the first time in his life, he felt horrified. He thought of his currently pregnant sister-in-law, Izumi, and his future niece. He thought of that child, killed, before she could even take her first breath. He felt horrified beyond belief.

"Wh-whose child was it?" Naruto had to restrain himself from attacking Tsunade.

Tears gathered in Tsunade's eyes, but she held herself back. "An orphan, we named him Yuudai… He will be treated as a hero."

Naruto took the arrow forcefully off of Tsunade's hands. His body trembled in anger. "He better be." He hissed. "I will never forgive you for this, Baa-chan. You and the Kage's. I can't believe you had the gall to kill an innocent child. I will never forget this atrocity." He pointed to her before turning to walk out of the room. He slammed the door on his way out.

Tsunade sighed and tears escaped her eyes. She was very guilty of what she had allowed to be done. Jiraiya too was hesitant, but it was the only way. Three elderly people in Suna had already been reported to have died due to their chakra being sucked out of them as the tree tried to gather as much chakra as it can, to try and survive. The baby's sacrifice was for the good of the people. They weren't given that much of a choice.

Sasuke faced the silently sobbing woman. "The world is such a cruel place." He murmured. "Naruto understands this. He would never hate you." He stayed silent for a moment, just to let Tsunade absorb his words. "What would you have us do?" he asked.

Tsunade composed herself and wiped away her tears. "I-I want you to use your chakra bow and shoot the anomaly. Naruto would act as your protector if the anomaly strikes back." She commanded.

Sasuke is the master of chakra manipulation. He can manipulate his chakra into a bow which can make him shoot an arrow that can travel half way around to Hi no Kuni. And just like every person with a chakra, he has an element. His chakra is fire based. That means all of the arrows that he would shoot would burst into black flames that can never be dosed by water.

"I would see to it. It shall be done." He stated, before leaving the woman to grieve.

* * *

Sasuke watched Naruto murmur sweet goodbyes to his wife as she shyly adjusted his robe. Sasuke felt a pang of jealousy. Not because he harbored affection towards Naruto's beautiful white eyed wife, but because he longs for a domestic companion. He thought of sweet Sakura, who loves him so. Maybe if things go right, he would finally profess his affections to the green eyed woman. He just hoped the fiery Karin would not cut off his head, and he is not talking about the head that's on the upper part of his body.

Naruto kissed one of Hinata's eyelids. He took both of her hands and kissed her calloused knuckles. His eyes shining with love for the white eyed beauty.

"Be careful Naruto-kun. Remember to eat your meals and abide the laws. I don't want anything to happen to you. I know just how reckless you are." Hinata murmured. Her cheeks red from Naruto's public display of affection and her eyes shining with love.

Hinata has been in love with the blond since they were children. She has been doing so although Naruto had been oblivious to her affections and had procured the affections of other girls including Sakura herself. When Naruto finally realized that he loved the Hyuga, he immediately asked her out, much to Hinata's shock.

Everything fit into piece since then. Naruto realized just how Hinata was practically made for him and him to her. They both enjoy gardening, they had the same ideals. They were opposites but at the same time they were the same side of the coin. Naruto did not take long to decide that she was the one for him. Upon almost losing her to one mission involving a gang of raiders who tried to raid Konoha's first Hokages' tomb, Naruto realized just how dangerous their occupation is. So he begged her to marry him. It just so happened that months later after their marriage, they were chosen as Guardians. Now Naruto became worried that the threat of him losing her or vice versa was bigger. He just hoped that nothing will take him away from her.

"I'll be fine love. Take care of yourself. We'll be back by the fortnight." He murmured.

Naruto kissed her sweet lips and held the back of her neck as he tilted his head. He licked her upper lip before she shyly opened her mouth. His tongue prodded hers, rubbing it and guiding her own tongue to a sensual dance. He pulled her body against his, his arousal evident.

"Naruto." Sasuke's murderous voice broke up the sensual couple.

Hinata squeaked in embarrassment, causing Naruto to laugh. He affectionately nuzzled his head on Hinata's neck, causing her to practically melt on his arms.

Sasuke almost barfed.

"Goodbye love. I'll bring home the prettiest flower I can find." Naruto promised.

Hinata smiled. "I just want you home safe and sound."

With one last kiss, Naruto mounted his horse and both were off.

* * *

Naruto knew that something was off. The sun was setting behind them and their only source of light was the torch Sasuke was holding and the dim light of the tree standing perhaps one kilometer away from them.

He can see the dark cloud from their position. A meter away from them were seals. Those seals were made by the very first Hokage, using his own chakra to make a border. The first Hokage, Hashirama, died at the early age of fifty because of this. But he was the very first person who was able to separate his chakra entirely from his body. The seals are harmless of course, you can step on them and nothing would happen. But it will notify the Kages that someone had breached the border, and thus breaking the first sacred law.

"It is true." Sasuke murmured as he dismounted from his black horse.

"Wow. It's so dark…" Naruto commented as he pat his gray mare's neck, as to calm her down. It seems that the anomaly was affecting the surrounding vegetation. All of the plants around the seal were dead.

"We should get this done." Sasuke stated as he clapped his hands together, concentrating his chakra to his palms. As he slowly parted his hands, a purple/blue bow started taking shape.

Naruto on the other hand, adjusted the feather at the opposite tip of the arrow. He took the pouch in his hands and prayed to baby Yuudai. He hoped that the child's sacrifice won't be in vain.

 _'Naruto…'_ somebody whispered.

"Did you hear that?" Naruto asked Sasuke, who finally formed his glowing bow. "Somebody just whispered my name."

Sasuke looked at him with a glare. "Naruto, I am not in the mood. We are on a mission."

 _'Naruto… Help…'_ There it was again.

Naruto swiveled his head left and right, trying to find the source of the voice. He watched Sasuke's lips and found that it was not him that was whispering.

 _'Naruto… Chosen One…'_

"Fuck dude! I am not hearing things!" Naruto exclaimed. His eyes wide and his hands clammy. Something was really off. He must be either going crazy or somebody's playing tricks on him.

"Stop fucking moving around Naruto, before I kick your ass." Sasuke hissed as he forcefully took the arrow from the blond and poised to shoot.

 _'NARUTO! PLEASE!'_

Moving on instinct, Naruto bolted into a run.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted, eyes wide in shock, as he watched the blond run past the seals, which turned green, and towards the tree. He ran to follow the blond but stopped when he was about to cross the border. His body shook. His body screamed to just run past the glowing seals and follow Naruto, but his logic told him no. A plan formed in his brain and he took the unused arrow and concentrated on linking a chain from his bow to the tip of the arrow. He planned on shooting the arrow to Naruto's shoulder, the chakra chain would link him with the arrow and he would haul Naruto back to the border. Closing his eyes, he concentrated his chakra, linking it. He silently thanked Naruto's mother, Kushina, who taught him and Naruto on how to make chakra chains.

Naruto followed the voice, telling him to go closer and closer to the tree.

 _'Naruto! Hurry!'_ The voice whispered urgently.

He didn't know why he was following the voice's commands. Only that he needed to follow it. The voice needed him. That was the only thing he could think of at the moment.

Then he stopped. He looked up panting. In front of him was the legendary tree. Its bark shining in gold, then he realized that it looked more like a glass holding the golden chakra within. The leaves were equally gold. It might have been such a beautiful sight, if it wasn't for the fact that the trunk was rotting. Black, red and orange tendrils were creeping around the bark. The sight was sickening.

Naruto's eyes widened when the tendrils stopped moving. Then the black mass formed slits, eighteen horizontal slits all in all. Then those slits opened, red liquid which awfully looked like blood, seeped out of the slits. When it opened, pupils of different colors popped out from its center. It was then that Naruto realized that those eighteen slits are actually nine pair of eyes. And those eyes looked like they were crying blood.

A dark and heavy atmosphere fell down on Naruto, forcing him to his knees. His body refused to move. He started sweating buckets. His heart accelerated.

 _ **'Well, Well, Well… Who do we have here? The chosen one, basking us with his presence…'**_ A voice, much, much deeper than the one calling him came from the tree.

The voice was so malicious and sinister that it made Naruto want to slit his own throat.

 _ **'It seems that our mother became so desperate that she offered her own champion to us in a silver platter.'**_ This voice was more squeaky and playful than the other one.

 _ **'But this was all part of her plan, our plan. For we and her are one. And we shall not wait any longer.'**_ A more feminine voice spoke.

Then it all happened in a flash. The malicious dark mass detached itself from the tree and forced it's way inside Naruto's eyes, mouth and ears, making Naruto scream in such agony that Sasuke, who just so happened to have finished linking a hundred meter long chakra chain, to jump in fright.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke screamed in worry. All he can see from where he was standing was that the dark cloud that once loomed at the Trees base was vacuumed to the dot whom he recognize as Naruto.

He drew his bow and concentrated. Never in his life had he felt such fear. Fear of losing his best friend. Sasuke let go of the arrow and it flew towards Naruto, piercing his shoulder.

With all of the strength Sasuke possessed, he grabbed the chain and yanked it towards him, he did it again and again until he visibly saw Naruto.

"NARUTO! HANG ON!"

With one last pull, Naruto's body passed the border. Sasuke let go of the chain and it shattered to tiny pieces and the chakra returned to his body. He ran to Naruto and checked his pulse. He can feel it.

He studied Naruto for further injuries. Naruto's skin was pale and there's blood dripping out of his mouth, eyes and ears. Sasuke broke the arrow imbedded on Naruto's shoulder in half. The arrow went through him. He saw that the pouch containing Yuudai's chakra remained intact and he set it aside. He turned Naruto to his side and slowly pulled the remaining half of the wooden arrow off of Naruto's' shoulder. He then pressed his hand on Naruto's wound to try and stop the bleeding.

"Hang on, dobe!" He begged.

In his panic, Sasuke accidentally pressed his knee on the pouch containing Yuudai's soul and it broke free.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed, upon realizing his mistake.

He watched the soft pink chakra remain steadily in place for a moment. He expected the chakra to descend to the ground and ascend to the tree but then the chakra moved towards Naruto and entered his body. That was when Sasuke saw the bleeding stop. He can feel it on his hands, the blood was not gushing anymore. He slowly removed his hand as saw healed flesh. Dread filled Sasuke's being.

"What have you done, Naruto?"

* * *

"After that, Naruto woke up claiming that he did not remember anything at all. I tried to talk to him, but he just mounted his horse and told me that he wanted to be home as soon as possible. He even left me to report on what happened to the Fifth. When I talked to her, they already knew what happened. Well, the Naruto breaking the first law and crossing the border part at least. I told Tsunade-sama that it was Naruto who saved the tree, that Naruto was acting weird and claimed to hear things before he ran towards the tree. Naruto was arrested in the morning, but he didn't look afraid. He looked serene, calm. I don't know what's going on in his head." Sasuke breathed for awhile.

Kushina, who was covering her mouth in shock, slowly reached towards a glass of water with trembling hands. Minato took the glass for her, but he was also shaking. He gave her the water and soothed her back.

"Did Tsunade-sama do anything?" Karin hissed.

"She did." Sakura answered. "The Kage's, except the Kazekage, wanted Naruto to be executed. Tsunade-sama begged that he should only be exiled. Danzo was the one who was so passionate about Naruto's execution. He almost convinced the Kages on executing Naruto. But Tsunade-sama, the Guardians, and the clan heads voted that he'll only be exiled. Hinata herself offered her life in exchange for his."

Kushina moved towards Hinata and engulfed the girl in a hug. Boruto, who was sitting on his mother's lap, just followed his Grandmother and was squished between the two Uzumaki ladies. A few tears rolled down Hinata and Kushina's eyes as Kushina murmured thank you's to Hinata because of her dedication to Kushina's son.

"The voice of the Guardians and the clan heads are no match against three Kages. How did you manage to persuade them?" Minato asked, his voice cracking. For a moment there, he feared that the news that Naruto was exiled was just a cover up and the reality was that he was executed.

"Tsunade-sama made a bargain that she would step down from her seat and give the Hokage position to Danzo. The Raikage, Mizukage and Tsuchikage thought that it would be most logical to give the Hokage seat to another person. They thought that Tsunade-sama was no longer capable of being Hokage." Sai explained.

Karin grew confused. "Eh? Then why is Kakashi the sixth?"

"That's because, from what I've heard, Danzo died in an accident. That must have been days before his inauguration." Minato stated. "But now that I think about it." He shifted his gaze to Sasuke. "His accident wasn't a mere coincidence….was it?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. "It was the only thing I could do for Naruto. I should have broke the law for him, yet I stood at the border like a coward."

"Danzo was planning on assassinating Naruto while he traveled, but he was unsuccessful because Naruto's chakra signature suddenly went undetected." Sai stated.

Karin smirked. "…Until now that is." She stated smugly.

All of the attention went to her.

"What do you mean?" Hinata whispered loud enough for them to hear. Her voice was laced with hope.

"Just several hours earlier, I detected a chakra spike. A huge one. And the chakra felt sunny and warm. We all know there is only one person who has that kind of Chakra." Karin stated.

Kiba forcefully put down his glass in excitement. "Where!?" It was then that Akamaru bounded inside the house, thinking that his master was in trouble.

"Dowggy!" Boruto gushed, seeing the gigantic dog that was supposed to be outside the house, keeping watch.

Karin just rolled her eyes at their gaping faces. "Well, I can't pin point the exact location, but it's in the north."

"Kumogakure." They whispered.

* * *

"I have found him Kaguya-sama." Momoshiki stated, he bowed his head and averted his gaze from the spectacle presented in front of him.

Kaguya moaned as the man under her shuddered his release. She panted as she waited for the euphoria to die down. Being semi-dead for a very long time died not lessen Kaguya's sexual drive. Although her latest lover, a handsome young man who is also an Ootsutsuki, satisfied her, she can't help but think if her chosen spouse will have a great sexual prowess.

"Found him?" She panted. "My chosen spouse? Where is he?" She asked as she got off of her straddling position to lay down beside her current lover. She moaned at the feeling of her lover's flaccid member slid out of her chamber.

"A village called Kumogakure." Momoshiki reported. He just hope that his sensors are right.

"Fetch him for me." Kaguya stated. "But before that." She purred and slide a finger on her lover's chest, down to his stomach and slowly wrapped her palms on his semi-erect member. "I sensed a chakra. A chakra untainted, probably that of a child. He has almost the same chakra pattern as my future spouse, almost the same power too. His chakra is like the offspring of the sun and moon. A chakra sired from the seed of my future spouse... I want that brat dead."

Her lover then rolled above her and slid inside her womanhood with a grunt. She brought him to a kiss and they moved together, slowly gaining momentum, not caring if Momoshiki was still there to see the act.

"Toneri-kun?" Kaguya purred towards her lover. "Will you kill him for me?"

The man named Toneri thrusted hard inside her, causing her to orgasm.

"As you wish, my Lady."

* * *

AN: Thank you so so much for your reviews! I am astounded by the support you showed to this story! Wow! This is all possible thanks to you guys!

So now we know that there are three sacred rules:

Rule one: It is forbidden to go beyond the boundary.

Rule two: It is forbidden to take anything that belongs to the Will of Fire.

Rule three: ?

I would like to give a shout out to thor94 for almost figuring out Naruto's crime. You and Kedo had the closest guess.

mrenteria99 and leader of shadowz, I'm sorry for the cliffhangs…. Expect more :D…

To the ones who favorite, followed, reviewed, and simply lurked around my story… I love you…

Special thanks to my beta gio08 who despite being busy, still edited this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you sure about this, Yuudai-kun?" Old Ryota asked the red-haired man currently packing up his clothes.

Yuudai sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Yes, my past is catching up to me Jiji." He stated closing up his duffle bag.

Ryota shook his head. It seemed that there was no stopping the young man he had come to call as part of his family. He knew this day would come. The moment the red-haired man entered his life, he knew that there was something peculiar about him.

Yuudai came to him one stormy night. It was a year after Ryota's only son died from a mission gone astray. The old man was still mourning for his son when a tall young man crawled inside of the noodle house, completely soaked to the bone. Ryota first thought that his auburn haired son came back to life and decided to return to him. But when the soaked young man raised his face and begged for food, Ryota knew that his son was forever dead. But, he felt that his son sent this young man to fill the gap that he had left. So he fed Yuudai and gave him shelter from the storm. He knew that he could never replace his son, but at that moment, Ryota gained a family.

Yuudai worked as his assistant in exchange for food and shelter. Soon, the mysterious male grew on Ryota's heart. He had come to treat the young man, not as his son, but as the grandson he never had. But the young man had always been quite different. The young man could predict who was going to enter the noodle house, he also had beyond human reflexes, and he had seen the man emitting an orange glow that oddly resembled a man who could manipulate his chakra. When he asked about it, he found out that Yuudai was once part of Konoha's army. All Ryota knew was that army brats are taught how to manipulate their chakra. The suspicion dampened since then, but there had been a nagging feeling inside him that never left. Especially when he occasionally saw blond strands of hair on Yuudai's pillow and he knew that the young man had no interest in other women, the young man did tell him once that his heart was already taken by a female and she's the only one he'll ever love. Then, who owns the blond strands? Yuudai was clearly a red head. Ryota since then confirmed that his ward his hiding him something. But it was not his place to ask.

"You never did tell me about this past of yours Yuudai-kun." Ryota asked.

Yuudai smiled at the old man. "It is best if you don't know, Jiji."

Yuudai then let go of his duffle bag and engulfed the old man in a hug. "Thank you so-so much, Ryota-jiji. I will never forget your kindness. I will pray to the Will of Fire to grant you a long life."

The old man smiled. "And thank you Yuudai-kun. This noodle house is always open to you." He patted Yuudai's cheek. "You can visit anytime that you want."

Yuudai grinned at this and once again hugged the old man. "Maybe next time I'll bring my beloved with me. And my friends too!"

Ryota's brown eyes widened. "You are going back to Konoha?" This was a shock to the old man. He had always thought that Yuudai had been avoiding going back to his supposed home land.

The red haired male blushed and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Well, no. Not yet, I mean. All in due time."

Ryota decided not to ask furthermore and nodded his head. "I don't really know why you can't go back."

"I've done something wrong. And I have been tasked to do something. I must follow this path, even though I'm a bit reluctant." Yuudai stated. He sighed once more and picked up his duffle bag. "I have to go now, Jiji. Take care!"

"You too, gaki. Be careful on your trip to Kirigakure!" Ryota stated.

Yuudai winced at hearing that. He was really not heading towards Kirigakure. He hated lying to the old man. But he couldn't have the Kumo army at his back. Better create a diversion before they decided to investigate on the would-be-former assistant of Kumo's local noodle house.

Yuudai was about to leave to room when he stopped and turned. His expression was that of a baffled man. "Uhhh… Jiji? Can I ask you a favor?"

Ryota raised a brow. "What is it?"

"I-If people from Konoha ask for a guy named… uhhhh…" Yuudai tapped his chin, his brow creased in concentration. "I think that was a ramen topping… but yeah, if Konoha asks for a guy whose name is a ramen topping, tell them to go to Ki Village!"

Ryota's brow rose even more. "Someone you know lives there? This ramen topping? Is it Menma? Nori?" he asked completely confused.

The red head sweat dropped, but waved his hand. "U-Uhh.. yeah… Someone I knew…" He lied horribly. Lucky for him, the old man was very easy to lie to.

Ryota let go of the issue and just waved his hand. "Okay, I'll make sure to tell if someone asks. I highly doubt that though, Kumo and Konoha have a strange tension going on. Only a handful of Konoha settlers venture in Kumo. It has been like that since Kumo rebelled against Konoha during the Yondaime-Minato's reign."

Yuudai faked a smile. "J-just in case. Well, I'll be going now!" He stated before leaving.

* * *

"Boruto-kun is-is-is-is cheating!" A young girl wailed.

Boruto grinned mischievously at the girl below him. He and his classmates were currently trying to climb a tree in their local daycare.

"Boruto-kun ith uthing chakwa!" A boy with a lisp also wailed at the atrocity before him.

"No fair!" Another one agreed.

Boruto perched on the branch and grinned down at his friends. "Thiws is twaining for yow guys!" He explained flailing his hands and trying to muster up a serious expression. "Wee muwst be compepetent shoulders!" he continued.

One of the teachers gasped when they saw the young blond up in the tree without any protective gear.

"Boruto-kun! You must come down!" The teacher ran towards the tree, worry painted on her face.

That was the scene that Minato arrived to when he came to the daycare to fetch his grandson, much to his amusement. He watched the worried teacher scold his grandson and almost had a heart attack when Boruto somersaulted off of the tree, landing on his two feet with no signs of pain or injury. Minato smiled proudly at this. At such a young age, Boruto was already showing signs of being a prodigy. Although the young blond still can't form a smooth sentence, he already can manipulate his chakra. Just a week before, the boy made his own sand shovel made up with his own chakra much to the excitement of his grandmother. Naruto was not this fast paced, as Minato can remember. Well, with such a good breeding, one could expect the young Boruto to grow up as a prodigy.

"Boruto-kun! Don't do that again! You could have gotten hurt or worse!" The teacher scolded the embarrassed boy.

"I'm sowwy, sensei." Boruto bashfully apologized.

One thing that Minato also noticed is that Boruto was not a complete carbon copy of his son. Although they young blond is also rather mischievous, he is also timid and more serious when it comes to his studies.

Minato decided to let his presence be known. "Boruto-chan! Let's go home now." He called.

Boruto's face lit up seeing his grandfather. He took off to a run and jump into his grandfather's embrace. The teacher blushed seeing the rather handsome Uzumaki consort while the other children pouted seeing that Boruto would not be further punished from his behavior. But like all children, they all forgot their spite when Boruto waved goodbye.

"Bye!" Boruto called as his grandfather carried him away from his school.

"So how was school today, Boruto-chan?" Minato asked.

"They tawt us abowt the twee! Again!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. This is one thing that Minato also noticed about his grandson, the child was very interested in the Will of Fire.

"Guessing by your reaction, you liked it!" Minato stated, tickling Boruto's tummy.

The child laughed but stopped midway. He swung his little head towards one alley and stared. This caused Minato to stop walking.

"Boruto-chan?" He called the boy in his arms.

Boruto did not answer and continue to stare at the alleyway. Minato narrowed his eyes and walked towards the alleyway.

"Ojii-chan, he is gowne alwedy." The boy cryptically stated.

A chill ran down Minato's spine hearing his grandson say 'he', confirming that there was someone there. He walked three steps backwards before breaking into a run towards their home.

Boruto continued to stare at the alleyway, oblivious to the paranoia his grandfather was currently feeling. He stared at the alleyway and smiled seeing a shadow emerge from it.

* * *

"We stop here for an hour." Sasuke panted as he skidded to a stop.

Kiba immediately fell down to his knees, panting. Sai slowly walked towards the tree and slumped on it before ransacking his bag to find a bottle of water. He drank from it and decided to pour the rest on his head.

Sakura wiped the sweat from her brow before taking a towel, dosing it with water, and walked towards her exhausted husband and dabbed his forehead with the damp towel.

Hinata, who looked the least shaken, took a bottle of water from her bag and walked towards Akamaru, who fell to his belly. She let the huge dog drink from the bottle and decided to wet a towel and drape it across Akamaru's back.

They had been running towards Kumogakure for twelve hours straight. After hearing Naruto's location from Karin, Hinata had begged the group for them to leave immediately. Kushina and Karin also wanted to come. Sasuke mistakenly told the Uzumaki women that they'll only be a burden and was almost killed by the two hotheaded women plus his hotheaded wife who did not like his tone. He was rescued by the puppy eyed Boruto who told his grandmother and aunt that he'll get lonely if they'll leave. A quick wink from the boy confirmed Sasuke's suspicion. The boy was Naruto's son alright.

Minato told the group to stay the night. They were obviously tired from their trip. This gave Hinata the time to spend with her son. Boruto enthusiastically acted his stories to his beloved mother. Boruto told Hinata about his training, his friends, his school and he also told her about what he had learned about the Will of Fire. Boruto also asked his mother for stories about his father, Naruto. The blond fell asleep after Hinata told him about the story of his father and his first mission as a guardian.

When dawn had come and the sun was about to rise, Boruto watched his mother leave from the confines of his room. He almost flung himself out of the window as he waved his mother goodbye with a grin. Hinata almost cried seeing her boy. But the thought of seeing the boy's father strengthened her courage.

"I am amazed of your stamina, Hinata-san." Sai commented, seeing the smiling dark-haired girl.

Kiba let out a huff and chuckled. "With a husband like Naruto, Hinata's bound to have large stamina. They _trained_ all night long." He teased.

Hinata visibly blushed. "K-K-Kiba-kun! T-That's too vulgar." She stuttered, hiding her face behind her palms.

Sakura chuckled and shook her head but decided to tease the bashful woman. "I remember Hinata not be able to walk for days after those 'trainings'. Naruto must have been too _hard_." She drawled out, causing Sasuke to frown and mentally note to train hard with Sakura once this whole ordeal was done.

"S-Sakura-san!" Hinata replied, almost as red as a tomato.

Sai chuckled seeing the usually composed Hinata melt into a puddle of embarrassment. Suddenly he felt excited meeting this Naruto.

Sasuke sighed and slumped on the ground bringing Sakura with him. "I'm still tired. Wake me up when an hour has passed.

Sai agreed and took a damp a towel and covered his face as he dozed off.

Kiba seemingly passed out on his spot and Akamaru crawled closer to the brunette and also dozed off.

Hinata stayed awake and watched the orange sky, thinking of what her beloved husband is currently doing. Does he miss her?... Does he still love her?

* * *

In the middle of a brightly lit room, a large man with dark skin brought down both his muscular arms on his desk, creating a dent on the steel structure.

"A what!?"

"W-W-W-We d-do-don't k-kno-know R-Raikage-sama!" The terrified attendant stuttered as his knees shook in fear. The Raikage, A, is a large formidable man who's reputation precedes him. Any sane man would fear inflicting anger from this giant of a leader.

One brave white haired and dark skinned young man decided to continue the report. Darui came forward and bowed towards their enraged leader. Behind him is a beautiful red head and dark skinned woman named, Karui. Beside the woman is another beauty who has lighter skin and blonde hair, she is known as Samui. At the far back of the room is another dark skinned man who has grayish hair named, Omoi.

"The sensors sensed groups of people coming from different directions and they're both heading towards Kumo." Darui reported.

The Raikage slumped on his seat. "I'm amazed that our weak ass sensors managed to detect these threats."

The still trembling ambassador from the sensory department shamefully bowed his head.

"Both have strong chakras patterns, Raikage-sama. Although the one from the south seems to be a much smaller group than the one from Kirigakure, the one from the south has stronger chakra patterns. They will arrive in about six hours." Darui continued.

A clicked his tongue. "Prepare to intercept if needed. Let us not make rash decisions. They might be just travelers who happen to have strong chakra."

"Two travelers at the same time at the same place? That's peculiar." Omoi commented but the Raikage ignored him.

"How about that super huge chakra spike the other day? I'm not a sensor but I definitely felt that spike." Karui stated, causing the Raikage's frown to deepen.

"Should we make an arrest, Raikage-sama?" Darui asked, ready to do just that if commanded. His men has been spying outside of the noodle house the whole night in case of any more suspicious movement from the noodle house's assistant.

"Not needed, yo!" Another large man known as Kirabi came inside the office, stealing the spot light. "Yuudai-kun felt that he had to go, so he left this morning to leave us alone, bakayaro konoyaro!" He rapped much to the other's annoyance.

"Yuudai left? He was the one responsible for the spike?" Karui was shocked.

"And you let such a dangerous man leave, Bee-sama?" Omoi spat.

Samui glared at the male behind her. "Respect Bee-sama, gaki." She hissed.

The Raikage just raised a brow towards his adopted brother, waiting for him to explain himself.

"Yuudai-kun did nothing, and he decided not to stay in." He rapped but stopped seeing his brother's annoyed look. "I have a soft spot for the boy. Let him be, he means no harm. And besides, the upcoming visitors are more important than a harmless young man who has left the village already."

* * *

"Goodnight Boruto-chan." Kushina kissed the boy's brow before turning off his lamp, leaving the nightlight on.

"Goowdnight Obaa-chan!" the boy stated before forcefully closing his eyes feigning sleep.

Of course Kushina knew of this deception but only chuckled at her grandson's antics. She left his side and exited the room. She took one last look before closing the door.

"Karin-chan said that she did not feel any foreign chakra around the vicinity." Kushina stated, not even looking at her husband who is right next to the door, waiting for her.

"I felt that something's going to happen. But for some reason, I strangely feel calm." Minato stated. Contrary to the paranoia he felt earlier, he was much more relaxed now.

"I still think that we should not let Boruto sleep alone. Although I trust Karin-chan's above normal sensor abilities, she knows that there are things who can go past her senses." Kushina said, wringing her hands in nervousness. Since she heard about what Minato felt while going home from Boruto's school, she had been extra observant and cautious. She can't let anyone take away her beloved grandson.

"If somebody's after Boruto. What is their motive?" Minato asked himself.

Kushina's eyes narrowed. "Could it be the council? Have they thought that Boruto would be a good leverage to make Naruto come back?" She presumed.

"They already sent Hinata-chan as the leverage. I don't think they could get away from attempting to kidnap Boruto without Kakashi-kun knowing." Minato stated.

"How can you be so sure that someone was tailing you, Minato-kun?" Kushina asked.

Minato scoffed and teasingly pinched his wife's cheeks. "I'm not that rusty, love. I may not be as good of a sensor as you and Karin-chan, but I can hold up my own fight in that category. And besides, Boruto seems to be very positive that someone was there. He even implied that it was a male."

Kushina smiled. "Boruto might surpass Karin-chan on the sensory department someday. He seems to be developing the skills of a sensor."

Minato also smiled seeing his wife's smile. "Naruto would be so proud." He sighed nostalgically remembering his only son.

* * *

Toneri waited for a while before leaving his dark hiding spot and carefully approached the sleeping child before him. He studied the boy in the dim light. The same bright blond hair as him. The child's face is much rounder signifying that he got his facial features from his mother. His beautiful mother.

Toneri sighed wistfully, remembering the first time he saw the little boy's mother. The boy was still on his mother's belly by then. But Toneri was enamored.

He shook his head and remembered his mission. He slowly approach the boy and raised his hand….

* * *

I am sorry if this is short and a bit of a filler chapter but I have been sick for the past few days. Sorry…


	6. Chapter 6

The door burst open. Kushina gasped in horror seeing the silver haired man reaching towards her grandson.

"BORUTO!" She unconsciously shouted, causing the man to flinch and said child to bolt up in fright.

Seeing his defenseless grandson made Minato's blood boil. He had been talking to Kushina when he heard a slight creek coming from Boruto's room. He had followed his instincts and checked the room. He couldn't imagine what would have happen if he ignored the creek.

The man they saw staggered back. He held his hands up and Minato immediately summoned his chakra into his right hand. A yellow aura crept out of his pores and pooled onto his palm. Then the aura started taking the shape of a katana. He pushed himself forward and ran towards the silver haired man, his weapon at hand.

"YOUUU!" He bellowed, anger in his eyes. With both hands on the hilt of the katana, he twirled the weapon behind him and brought it down towards his opponent.

The silver haired man ducked to dodge the slash. He rolled to the side and bumped his hip on the dresser, causing the toys placed above to crash. The dim nightlight lamp near the dresser crashed, causing the room to darken. Only the light of Minato's chakra sword was visible. Another light flickered on as the silver haired man formed two wakizashi in both hands.

"Obaa-chan!" Boruto exclaimed as his Grandmother ran to his bed and engulfed him in a hug.

Kushina watched the two men analyze each other. She kissed Boruto's brow and carried him. She needed to make sure that Boruto was out of the man's sight. She ran towards the door, unknowing that the silver haired man had seen her and had thrown his wakizashi towards the dresser standing beside the door.

"KUSHINA! Watch out!" Minato shouted in horror. Kushina managed to stop just in time for the dresser to fall down right on the door, causing the contents of the dresser to be heaved out onto the floor.

The cyan wakizashi stuck on the dresser's side evaporated and drifted back towards its owner.

Minato hissed and readied himself for a fight. He was worried for his grandson. The room was too small for a full out fight and Boruto's escape had just been cut off.

"Who are you?" He hissed towards his opponent.

The silver haired man calmly raised both hands in surrender, much to Minato and Kushina's surprise. The chakra sword in his hand evaporated and he stood there defenseless.

"Please let me explain… I meant no harm…" The man pleaded towards the couple.

"What?" Minato whispered, completely confused. His own sword was still glowing in his hands, ready to fight if the guy was deliberately lying to get him to drop his guard.

"No harm!? NO HARM? You were after my grandson!" Kushina's temper flared. The child in her arms sucked on his thumb and stared at light haired man with cyan eyes like nothing had happened.

"Forgive me for my ambiguous entrance. My name is Toneri. I'm here to protect your grandson." The man stated, his form relaxed and firm.

"Huh?" Minato once again whispered in bewilderment. His hold on his katana slackened and the chakra sword started disintegrating, indicating that Minato had lost his focus.

Kushina, on the other hand, remained tense. "Protect him? From what?" she whispered.

At this time, Boruto had grown uncomfortable on his grandmother's tight hold and started wriggling out, but her hold just tightened even more, much to the boy's disappointment.

"I don't believe you." Minato hissed. His chakra sword reformed as he focused once again. Usually he was the trusting one, but since his son's exile, he had been having a hard time trusting anyone. Especially when his wife had theorized that somebody might have wanted Naruto gone.

"Then believe in your son Naruto."

Both of Boruto's grandparents gasped. The child himself stopped sucking his thumb and grinned.

"Papa?" Boruto exclaimed enthusiastically.

Toneri nodded his head towards the child. "He sent me to protect the child." He continued.

The sword on Minato's hands disintegrated. Although the weapon had been discarded, his posture was still tense.

"How can we trust you?" Minato asked, rounding up on the guy.

Toneri's cyan eyes followed Minato around. "I will explain everything. You are free to take my life if you consider my words as lies." He stated.

Minato shot his wife a look. Their eyes met. Kushina slowly nodded her head. Minato nodded right after.

"We will allow you to explain. And just to be sure, Minato-kun! Please tie him up." Kushina stated, giving Minato a narrowed look.

Minato squirmed and relented and look around the room for something to tie the man up.

Soon they found themselves in the kitchen drinking coffee (Hot chocolate in Boruto's case) while Toneri eyed his own coffee in contempt, for his hands were tied by a blue blanket.

* * *

"A woman named Kaguya wants your grandson dead. She wants Naruto all to herself and does not want a child from another woman to taint her 'family'." Toneri explained before biting off the cookie in Boruto's hands.

The child beamed at the man, obviously excited that he is feeding a grown man a cookie from his own little fingers.

"Kaguya? Never heard of her." Minato stated, drinking from his own cup. As an ex-Hokage, Minato had met many people, both allies and enemies. But he had never heard of anyone named Kaguya.

"She had been in a deep sleep until three weeks ago. Kaguya is no ordinary woman. She is a powerful entity. You can even call her a Goddess if you want… She is that powerful." The man continued, ignoring yet another cookie from Boruto. The child did not relent and continued poking Toneri's cheeks with the treat until the man begrudgingly ate the offered cookie.

"A Goddess." Kushina's eyes widened disbelievingly. She narrowed her eyes at the man and unconsciously pulled Boruto away from him, much to the child's disappointment, as he was supposed to be hand feeding the tied up guy. "Why should we believe you?"

"I am part of the cult who revived her, the fourth might know this cult as the Moonlight Cult. I believe that our cult had been under Konoha's watchful eyes over the years. I know Kaguya-sama intimately. In fact, I was tasked to kill your grandson."

Minato tensed, as well as Kushina. Minato was the one who spoke as Kushina looked like her temper was about to cloud her next words. "Then why didn't you?" he asked the man.

Toneri closed his eyes. "I owe Naruto-san my life." He simply said. His expression nostalgic.

Fortunately enough, Minato can see his wife's temper go down. "You have met my son?" he asked once again. A small smile gazed his lips.

"Yes, I have." Toneri simply answered.

Releasing her struggling grandson, who obviously wanted to feed Toneri yet another cookie, Kushina leaned closer to the man.

"Naruto saved you? Is that why you owe him?" Kushina asked, clearly interested. Well, she was interested on anything pertaining to her son.

Toneri shook his head. "No, he did not. In fact, I owe him because he did not end my life."

Minato sweat dropped. "I-I see."

"When did you meet him? When?" Kushina asked hopefully.

"Well-"

* * *

 _Her black hair reflecting violet danced in the wind like silk. Her pale skin glowed under the moonlight. She was a goddess, a goddess of the moon. Toneri had never seen a woman so beautiful. The first time he found her was when she was picking flowers in her garden there in Uzu. She looked beautiful under the sun, but she looks majestic under the moon._

 _Toneri was just a visitor there in Uzu. He and a cousin of his were fetching supplies for the cult when he saw the beauty that is this woman. He enquired on the locals and he found out that the woman is the famous Hinata Uzumaki of the Guardians. He also found out that her husband, Naruto Uzumaki, had been exiled and she is now considered a widow. Hope flared in his heart at the thought of capturing the beautiful woman all for himself._

 _Now he was watching the woman as she peered out of her balcony, looking up at the stars longingly. He also found out that the woman was also with child. A minor thing to worry about. When she's his, he could just leave the brat to its paternal grandparents. Tomorrow he will accidentally tumble onto her path and start a courtship. If she refused, he would just take her away. That is what his father had taught him. His mother herself was a stolen away bride. And like his mother, Hinata would grow to love him and join the cult. It would be good for the cult too if a guardian was under their command._

 _"You do know that stalking is against the law?... What am I saying? I'm basically a stalker myself."_

 _Toneri whipped his head and saw a man under the cover of shadows. He could only make out his form. Toneri tried to reach out for the man's chakra, but much to his confusion, he could not feel any chakra from him, which is impossible._

 _Before Toneri could react, the man spoke again. "But anyways, I just want to warn you, stay away from Hinata." The man simply said._

 _Moments later, there was silence. Toneri blinked his eyes a couple of times to make sure if he could still see the man. The silhouette was not there anymore. He had vanished undetected. A shiver ran through Toneri's spine at what happened._

 _The next day, Toneri did not heed to the man's warning._

* * *

 _He watched the woman as she strode across the stalls in the market, greeting the merchants as they shouted to her low prices. It seems that he is not the only one who can see the beauty in this woman._

 _"Hinata-chan! Freshly picked tomatoes for only 180 ryos per kilo!" One merchant called to her._

 _"Sorry, Mitara-san. Kushina-sama does not like tomatoes." Hinata answered with a wave._

 _"Ara? I forgot! That dislike must have stemmed from the fact that she was once teased as tomato girl back in her childhood." The merchant informed causing Hinata to giggle._

 _"Oie Mitara-kun! You were one of those guys who teased her back then! Don't act so innocent!" One merchant called, causing the others to laugh at Mitara's embarrassment._

 _Hinata just giggled at the kindhearted conversation._

 _Toneri had to resist himself from simply striding up to her and take her away. Her voice is as gentle as she looks. Toneri must have her soon._

 _She is getting closer to him. He is currently standing outside of a store who sells fabrics. He had heard that she loves to buy yarns from that place. It seems that she loves knitting._

 _Much to his joy, the woman did enter the store. He waited outside of the door, leaning on the wooden post. She did not notice him yet._

 _A few minutes later, the door opened, revealing the woman in a white dress with three bags at hand. It was time to make his move, and he strode towards the woman._

 _"Do you need some help?" He asked._

 _His breath was taken away from him once her lavender white eyes made contact with his. It was so much more beautiful up close. She gave him a polite smile and her eyes darted across the place, like she was looking for someone to rescue her from the stranger. Surely that is not what she felt? After all, Toneri was positive that she belonged to him._

 _"E-Eto, i-I'm fine. I can carry these by myself." Hinata stated. Her shoulders were tensed. Maybe she was feeling like she was falling in love with him. He never believed in love at first sight until he found her._

 _"I insist. A beautiful woman like you should not be carrying these." He stated._

 _Hinata tensed once again and her eyes kept darting around her. Toneri ignored it and smiled at her as he took her bags from her hand before she could protest._

 _"U-Uhm." Hinata gasped as she tried to take back her bags but they were firmly in Toneri's hands now. Not wanting to look rude, she relented._

 _"I shall walk you home." Toneri stated with a smile._

 _Hinata forced a smile and walked towards her home with Toneri walking beside her. Her posture tensed and ready._

 _"I am Toneri." The silver haired man stated._

 _"Hinata Uzumaki." Hinata answered back politely but slightly highlighted her last name. She bowed her head towards the man and kept walking in a slightly fast pace._

 _"Uzumaki-san. Can I call you Hinata?" Toneri asked._

 _Hinata shook her head. Toneri could understand this, they are practically strangers. She will warm up to him later on._

 _"Are you are into knitting Uzumaki-san?"_

 _"Yes, I am knitting something for my upcoming child. I am pregnant with my hus-" She was about to say something else but stopped herself._

 _Toneri ignored her slip. "Your child is lucky to have a beautiful mother as you, Uzumaki-san." He complimented._

 _Hinata smiled awkwardly. "T-Thank you…"_

 _"Do you know the sex of your child, Uzumaki-san?" He asked._

 _"I-I can feel that it would be a son. His chakra says as much." Hinata stated, not looking at the man beside her._

 _Toneri frowned. A son would be much difficult to shape once he grows up. Maybe once he'll have Hinata, he could arrange an accident to get rid of the child. An unfamiliar pang of pain ran through his heart. His own father had tried to kill him once. It was when he failed at his training. He ignored the feelings and focused more on Hinata._

 _"You would want him to become a Guardian, yes?" Toneri asked._

 _Hinata's head snap to his direction. "How did you- oh, of course everybody would know. Actually, I prefer to let my son decide his own fate. A parent should be there to support their child through thick and thin." She stated running a hand through her slightly bulging stomach, which was not entirely visible from her dress._

 _Toneri frowned at her answer. No, a son should be mold by the father's liking. That was what his own father did and taught to him. He did not like Hinata's beliefs, he would have to change that later on._

 _Because of his disappointment, his next words came out before he could analyze them. "Too bad his father is a branded criminal."_

 _Hinata stopped walking. "You're wrong. Naruto-kun is innocent. He is the victim of something that he could not have foreseen. He is a hero." She hissed, not looking at him. Her body trembled in anger._

 _In seconds, she ripped her bags off of his hands and bowed to him before walking away in a fast pace._

 _Toneri frowned at her response to him. She seems to be the type of woman who will talk back when needed. He had thought she would be a passive woman. Maybe she got it from her husband. That is also something that he could change._

 _That was when he realized that he could not charm Hinata. That night, he planned for her abduction._

* * *

 _It was almost midnight. Toneri watched in his hiding place which gave a clear view of the woman he intended to become his after this night. Minutes from now, his target would step out to the balcony where he could easily snatch her away. Good thing that the woman is pregnant, he could just threaten the life of the child for her cooperation. He had made sure that Hinata's supposed in-laws were out for the night, he had heard that the couple regularly goes out together for a date. He made sure that Hinata would be alone for the night._

 _Much to his pleasure, the balcony door opened and the midnight haired woman strode out in her pure white satin dress._

 _He stood up from his hiding spot, ready to jump up towards the balcony, when a hand grabbed the back of his robe and slammed him to the ground. He grunted out loud, pain spreading throughout his body. His assailant had slammed him to an area where a stone is conveniently placed to stab his back. His breath left him and he laid prone in pain._

 _"Wh-wha" Toneri grunted. He slowly stood up clutching his hip. He cursed when he saw that Hinata had retreated to the house. His chance was wasted! Now he would have to wait for another night, or more nights in fact, seeing that Hinata might have heard the ruckus and will be more alert next time. Tonight would have been the perfect night to take her by surprise!_

 _Anger rushed through his being. He turned around to see who the one who thwarted his plans. A being clad in a dark cloak darted out of the bushes and fled the place. Toneri whizzed after the figure. Cyan colored chakra concentrated on both hands and chakra swords formed on both appendages._

 _He did not know how long he was chasing the figure. The only thing coursing through his mind was anger towards the figure. Nobody comes between his plans!_

 _They arrived at a clearing and the figure skidded to a stop. Toneri on the other hand kept running and jumped with both swords pointing up towards the figure._

 _"You!" Toneri brought down both swords in momentum of his fall._

 _The figure dodged to the right with the cloak's hem getting singed off by Toneri's sword. The moment Toneri's foot touched the ground, he swung his left hand to the right._

 _The figure just jumped high enough for his whole body to crouch down in mid-air while the bottom half of his cloak got scorched into half by Toneri's sword. Using gravity, the cloaked man planted both feet on Toneri's sword, bringing it to the ground with his body._

 _Toneri lost his balance by this action and stumbled to his knees. He did not notice the man's axe kick until the hill of the man's boot hit the back of Toneri's head, planting him face first to the ground. A ringing sound accompanied the pain that Toneri felt. As if to make sure that he is down, the stranger planted a strong stomp behind his back, taking his breath for seconds._

 _The figure jumped off of Toneri and investigated his shoe, which was ruined by the chakra sword._

 _"Shit! This was my only pair! Now where will I get new ones?" The cloaked man cursed as he took off one boot to examine the extent of the damage._

 _Toneri groaned. His senses dimmed and his eyesight blurred. Black spots flickered on his sight. He shook his head. How embarrassing. Here was an elite member of the Otsutsuki Clan getting his ass handed to him by a stranger. A stranger that is starting to act odder and odder in front of him._

 _"I know, I know! But I don't want to steal anything! I have morals God dammit!" The stranger exclaimed._

 _Toneri slowly gained his senses. He realized that his chakra sword had disintegrated and fled back to his body._

 _"Fuck anonymity! I'm so tired of hearing you guys boss me around for fuck's sake!" The stranger continued arguing._

 _Toneri then realized that the stranger was arguing to nothing. He keeps pacing back and for and muttering things to himself. Toneri realized that he might be facing a madman, a madman who defeated an elite! How shameful! Anger once again boiled inside him. His cyan chakra seeped out of his pores, ready to take form of a sword._

 _"You guys are fucking annoying!" The stranger shook his head in irritation._

 _Toneri slowly stood up, his back hurts and he feels nauseous, but his opponent is distracted. His exhausted chakra formed a small dagger. He was about to lunge, eager to kill his opponent to fix his broken pride, when the stranger suddenly turned to him._

 _He could not contain his gasp at what he saw. Red-orange glowing eyes peered back at him. The stranger's hood had fallen revealing a blond spiky hair and a familiar face. The stranger has the same features as the woman and man who took Hinata in. One thing that was also prominent is the three whisker like scars on each of the man's cheeks._

 _What made Toneri falter wasn't the man's physical form. It was the intense look he gave him. Then orange laced with red malicious chakra poured out of the man's skin, coating him everywhere. Much to Toneri's horror, despite the blatant showcase of chakra, he couldn't detect any chakra from him at all. Like the man's chakra is invisible to the senses. Toneri did not notice that his own chakra had faltered. His anger fled him and fear bloomed within him._

 _The chakra surrounding the blond stranger suddenly darted out. Hand like figures formed from the chakra and took Toneri by the neck before slamming him to the nearest tree._

 _Toneri gasped, his breath was once again taken from him. The chakra hand tightened on his neck, choking him. He started to panic. Intense fear overcame his senses as he tried to claw the chakra hand off of him. But much to his horror, his hand passed through the chakra. He tried to take in gulps of air, but found the scent of the chakra repugnant. It smelled like a flesh burning in fire._

 _"Hey there pretty boy! Tried to warn you the other night… You did not listennnnn." The stranger walked nearer._

 _The chakra hand on Toneri loosened its grip on his throat and the silver haired man was able to take huge chunks of air. Seeing this as an opportunity, Toneri tried to summon his chakra but, to his horror, he could not summon any._

 _"You may have noticed that you cannot summon chakra. I may have tampered with that a bit. Don't really like the color of your chakra." The stranger stated, he was only a meter apart from Toneri._

 _"Wh-who are you?" Toneri managed to let out, his hands still helplessly clawing at the chakra hand._

 _The stranger clicked his tongue. "I'm a bit confused right now. Many names are being thrown as suggestions in my head. Fucking annoying voices I tell you." The stranger suddenly laughed at his own expense._

 _The laugh sounded so ominous to Toneri's ears. The stranger kept on laughing. His chakra flickering from orange laced with red to orange laced with blue. Sometimes it would turn into a deep menacing violet then yellow then vomit green. That thing is impossible from what Toneri knows. Ones chakra only has one color that reflects your being. To have more than one chakra color is alarming._

 _"I want to fucking kill you!" The stranger stated with a huge maniacal grin. His voice has a deeper echo, a deep overtone to it. The orange laced with sandy yellow chakra hand on Toneri's neck tightened. Never had Toneri felt so afraid in his whole life._

 _Then the stranger's chakra flickered to orange laced with lime green. "But that would be a stupid decision. We could use him someday." He said more to himself than to Toneri._

 _The chakra hand on Toneri's neck loosened. He took a deep breath. His body was shacking with fear. This man is no sane man. He is a abomination._

 _"I tell you what." The stranger sobered. His red eyes glowed brightly. "I warned you to stay away from Hinata. You did not listen."_

 _Toneri tried to stay stoic. Who was this man?_

 _"Hinata's mine. You stay away from my wife and son, and I'll spare your life." The man stated with a malicious grin._

 _Toneri's eyes widen. "Y-you're Naruto Uzumaki."_

 _The stranger did not answer. He just grinned. And with a flash, he was gone and Toneri fell down onto his bum._

* * *

 _That unfortunate event forced Toneri to grow up. His obsession for Hinata was forgotten. The moment that they returned to the cult's headquarters, Toneri trained hard. He kept drilling into his mind that he is not the most powerful man out there. There is a man who was so powerful that a stare alone would petrify you. A man that had a very strong chakra, which is invincible to a human touch but can cause physical pain, despite the fact that you yourself couldn't touch it._

 _Four years had passed. Toneri was supervising an excavation site under the cult's orders. He sighed at the thought of the cult. His strength is not the only thing that changed over the years. His loyalty to the cult had diminished too. Your own father's emotional and mental abuse would do that to you._

 _Toneri decided to leave the excavation site for a while. The thing that they are searching, he was having a hard time believing that they would find it. After all, Kaguya-kami is just a myth._

 _He found an oak tree which provided a generous shade and sat down under it. He took out a water decanter and drank off from it. He silently cursed the location of the excavation site, which was significantly placed between the Suna-Kumo boundaries. Although, there are trees to cool the place off, the hot breeze from the desert blows ever so often to the place. Toneri decided to close his eyes._

 _"You can come out now." He stated to the presence behind the tree he was currently resting._

 _"Wow! You have gotten stronger." The familiar voice stated. "I only let out the tiniest bit of chakra that not even the greatest sensor in Konoha can detect. Bravo!"_

 _A red-head revealed himself from behind the tree. Toneri remained stoic at the unfamiliar stranger who intruded his private rest._

 _"I don't believe that we have met." He stated, his eyes narrowed._

 _The stranger grinned. "Relax, I won't hurt you. Don't get too tensed! Besides, I'm here to tell you that you still owe me something."_

 _Toneri tensed even more. "Owe?"_

 _Right before his eyes, the red-head started to change. The red hair melted to blond, three whisker like scars appeared on each cheeks, dangerously blue eyes replaced the violet ones. Toneri could not believe his eyes._

 _"N-Na-Naruto-san." He whispered in disbelief. This is the first time he had ever seen someone use his own chakra as a disguise. Just how skilled was this guy? Even though he had trained so hard for their next meeting, his hands shook unconsciously. His memory of that night came back to him. He studied the man, he seems a lot saner than before._

 _"I did not kill you… Now you owe me your life!" The blond cheerfully added. "And I'm going to collect this in due time! So, what I want you to do is betray your cult."_

 _Toneri sputtered. "Wh-what!?" Toneri stood up. He tried to calm himself but he was still slightly irritated. "I will do no such thing. Go away or else you will become the cult's enemy." He hissed._

 _Then Naruto laughed. It was the same maniacal laugh that haunted Toneri's dreams._

 _The blonde shook his head like what Toneri said was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life. "Oh you don't want to make an enemy out of me."_

 _Then chakra swirled around the blond. What Toneri saw next made him fear the blond more than before._

 _"You will do exactly as what I say. Cause you owe me bitch."_

 _What scared Toneri from Naruto's voice was the fact that he could hear ten voices from that one sentence._

* * *

Kushina burst out laughing. "Oh Naruto! Only he would say something as brazen as that! He called you bitch?"

Toneri smiled a little before taking a sip on his coffee, his hands now free.

Minato frowned at Kushina and had to explain to Boruto that a bitch means a female dog. Then he once again explained why Boruto's grandma called Toneri a dog. The child was left to wonder with wide awed eyes at the thought that the silver haired man is actually a canine in disguise.

Kushina sobered up. "Where does your loyalty lie Toneri-kun? You could easily betray Naruto at any given time." She stated. There was a twinkle in her eyes that said that one wrong move and Toneri wouldn't get out of the house alive. It seems that giving threats runs in the family.

Toneri closed his eyes. "I fear Naruto more than I fear Kaguya-sama."

That shocked both Minato and Kushina. They had heard from Toneri just how strong their son had gotten. But surely Toneri did not fear his power anymore. Toneri is not telling them something. Something that the silver haired knows about their son.

"What did Naruto make you do?" Minato asked. Minato still did not like the fact that the silver haired man had once stalked his daughter-in-law. Not to mention the fact that Naruto had been stalking his own wife right under their noses. Why didn't Naruto left any kind of indication that he was alive and well.

"Naruto-san had only collected my payment recently. He had sent me a message asking me to bring Boruto to a safe place until the chosen time." Toneri stated.

"Safe place?" Kushina asked.

"Chosen time?" Minato asked.

"A place where Kaguya-sama's sensors will be nullified. She would not be able to find the child there. Naruto-san showed me the place himself. He had designed the place just for the purpose of hiding his son for when the time comes." Toneri explained.

"Naruto's being cryptic. He is never cryptic Minato. What has happened to my baby?" Kushina mused, her heart growing heavy.

"If you do not believe me, you could come along Kushina-sama, Yondaime." Toneri stated. "You could even press a dagger behind my back just to be sure."

Kushina and Minato shared a look. A compromise forming between them.

* * *

Hinata's heart lurched at the sight of the mountains of Kumogakure. Her heart could not contain the excitement she was currently feeling.

"Are you ready?" Sakura asked behind her. Hinata could see that she was not the only one excited.

"Yes. I am ready to face him." Hinata nodded with conviction. Her fingers played with her wedding ring.

Sasuke who had joined the two women gave a long sigh. "We would have to report to A-sama first. It would cause some panic if we just barge in there and started interrogating."

Kiba who was also behind them scowled at the raven haired man. "Don't speak like we are too stupid not to know those things." He muttered, greatly offended by the non-offensive statement.

"For some reasons, I am feeling excited at the thought of facing the renowned Naruto Uzumaki." Sai stated, also feeling giddy.

Akamaru barked in agreement.

Sasuke sighed in defeat. "All in good time." He muttered.

* * *

Yuudai was distance away from Kumogakure. He whistled a happy tune and kicked a rock nonchalantly. But his happy persona was just a ruse. What he was actually feeling right now is melancholy. And longing, lots of longing.

Yuudai sighed and pushed a red lock away from his eyes. "I can feel their chakra from here." He stated longingly. Her chakra in particular was practically calling out to him.

'You must resist… It is not time yet.' The voice named Kurama stated in his head.

"I don't like this." Yuudai stated and closed his eyes.

Then his body tensed. His head whipped to the east.

"Fuck!" His eyes widen. "That chakra! This is not supposed to happen! He is not the one she was supposed to send!" He cursed.

'This is impossible! Everything had already been foretold!' A female voice gasped within him.

'Not feeling good about this.' The voice named Isobu whined.

Yuudai gritted his teeth. Then his eyes widened in horror. "They won't survive at this rate."

* * *

Should I do the next chapter for Return or the next chapter of this story? XD

Thanks to my beta, Gio-san, for the idea to make Toneri an ally. I'm kinda tired of making Toneri the bad guy. But there is always the question if he is really an ally...

The reunion is getting closer people!


	7. Chapter 7

Kaguya gritted her teeth. She is confused at the recent developments. The brat that her chosen had sired is gone. That would have made her elated if only Toneri's chakra was not missing as well. Of course she had thought that maybe after killing the brat, Toneri was killed by the kid's grandparents, but no, the grandparents were missing as well.

"Could it be-" Momoshiki pursed his lips before taking the tea cup to his lips. Silence prevailed around the darkened room.

"Yes. I am very disappointed right now." Kaguya stated, crossing her legs.

Momoshiki opened one eye to study the Goddess. She is wearing a light yukata, loosely hugging her figure. She is truly exquisite. She is proving to be quite an asset in his plans. He wonders where this new development will lead.

"Toneri betrayed us…" He sighed, oddly not surprised. The youth had been acting quiet strange as he remembered. He thought that it was because of the pressure his father was putting unto him. But it seems that Toneri had his own plans. And they fell right into them.

"Send your men to check the house. We can't be too sure. Hopefully we'll find the brat and his family dead, and maybe Toneri's body if he is dead." Kaguya waved.

Momoshiki sent a look to the men guarding the door and they scrambled away to relay the command.

Kaguya picked up her own cup and took a sip. "If he did betray us, it will be the last thing he'll ever do. They cannot hide from a God." She stated, sending a small flare of chakra out and breaking the wooden table and tea set in front of her.

Momoshiki sighed in disappointment as his teacup shattered into pieces, sending hot water on his yukata. He did not flinch when the hot liquid touched his skin, but he did flinch when the chakra wave hit him. It was a small one, but devastating. A hesitant smile touched his lips. He has his own plans… Now he's double checking them to make sure that it would still work. Because if it doesn't… he will feel the entire bulk of Kaguya's chakra. And he would not be alive to tell the immense size of it.

* * *

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

That was what Sakura thought the moment they passed Kirigakure's border. There was a thickness in the air. The afternoon sounds of the forest faded into silence. She was about to warn the party when Sasuke issued his command.

"Hold up!" Sasuke suddenly stated, causing Kiba to skid into a stop.

"Hey! I was in the moment!" Kiba stated, checking the soles of his sandals and confirmed that the rubber material had decreased in thickness by a centimeter. He pouted at Akamaru, who sniffed and barked at the indent that Kiba left on the ground.

"What's wrong?" Sai asked, making Kiba look up at the tree branch Sai had perched on.

"Can you hear that?" Sakura asked. She was also perched on a tree meters away from Sai.

Kiba frowned, shushing Akamaru's barks. The party stood in the forest, looking around the area around them.

Hinata's brows furrowed at this. "I can't hear anything." She stated, shooting Sakura a worried look.

Sakura nodded at Hinata's direction. "Exactly."

Sai frowned at this, his hand inching towards the paint brush that he uses as a conduit of his chakra. "This is very odd."

Sasuke shot Hinata a commanding look and she nodded her head. Her posture straightened up. A minute later, purple tendrils of chakra crawled out from the soles of her feet before shooting out into different directions. Her eyes are wide open but there was a silver sheen covering her pupils. She looks dazed, out of this world, but looking for something. Then her lips started trembling, her eyebrows furrowed and she started to sweat.

"Hinata!" Sakura called out, noticing this.

Like a puppet whose strings were cut off, the purple tendrils of chakra rushed back to her body and she crumpled to the ground. Sakura managed to catch her in time. She was pale and sweating. Her knees were trembling and her hand was cold. Her eyes blinked away the daze and she shot Sasuke a terrified and startled look.

"Enemy running towards us at 3 o'clock! He bares the Moonlight cult insignia on his back! He has a very strong chakra that managed to cut off mine!" Hinata exclaimed, surprising the others.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he muttered a curse. Hinata's technique, which is dubbed Byakugan, is a very old chakra manipulation technique that was passed down from generation to generation in the Hyuuga Clan. It enables the person to send tendrils of highly manipulated chakra around the area, allowing the user to map out the region 360 degrees through the vibration the chakra sends back to the user. In short, they would be able to see the area around them and a couple of meters ahead in 360 degrees at the same time. The chakra the user was sending out is not harmful to the touch unlike most chakra manifestations, it is not solid or poisonous, and that's why it is not easy to break. For someone to be able to break through an un solid chakra is alarming.

"We need to move! We are in a perfect place for an ambush." Sasuke stated.

Sakura immediately hauled Hinata to her feet and jumped away.

It was proven to be a lifesaving move when a hulking figure fell from the sky right to the place Sakura and Hinata were standing. A cloud of dust accumulated around the area, causing the others to cough and jump away from the area of impact.

"Get away!" Sasuke shouted, hand covering his mouth. His eyes watered in irritation from the dust cloud covering the location of his companions. He cursed not bringing Karin with them. A sensor was very much needed at this point.

Sasuke's chakra flared, pouring out from his hand and solidifying into a bow. He stood still for a second, trying to listen for anything that will give away the intruder's location.

A sudden large gust of wind blew away the dust cloud, revealing the upturned ground where a large figure stands. Sasuke saw Sai with a large black and white fan which slowly dissolved into a black mass that is likened to ink and returned to Sai's paint brush.

The man in the middle of the now cleared area was simply enormous and stocky. His skin was very pale and his hair paler. The Moonlight cult insignia sparkled in the afternoon sun. One thing Sasuke also noticed was the fact that the air grew thicker and more humid. In the intruders hand was a giant red axe made up of chakra still embedded on the ground. Red hot rage coursed through Sasuke. If Sakura hadn't moved, she and Hinata would have been the ones at the end of that axe. Sasuke's gripped of the bow tightened.

Somebody had tried to kill his wife.

Sasuke saw Kiba emerge from behind a tree. "Who are you?" Kiba asked. He did not even notice Akamaru suddenly tensing up and snap his head to the side, his ears standing up before trotting towards that direction.

The man grunted and easily dislodged the huge axe from the ground, causing it to crack further.

Sasuke draws his bow and an arrow materialized in his hand with it already nocked. He points it towards the cultist.

Kiba's light blue chakra swirled in his hands until it formed claws. Sai was in a fighting position as well, ready to pounce.

Sasuke noticed that Sakura and Hinata were nowhere to be found. Sakura was probably attending to the nauseous Hinata. She would soon join them the moment Hinata could find her footing.

"Stand down, you are surrounded!" Sai shouted to the figure.

The figure grunted. "You are in my way. I must collect my lady's chosen." It said.

Sasuke's eyes widened. This hulking axe wielding mass is after Naruto. His eyes narrowed, somehow they were able to track Naruto to this area.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that." It was Sakura, who emerged right behind Sasuke, stated. Her fists glowing green with chakra. "But I'm afraid we also can't let you go. You're under arrest for attacking a Konoha citizen." She stated, dropping into her fighting stance.

Sasuke jumped back to a tree just above Sakura, melting into their tandem. He's the support, she's the tank. Kiba also did the same with Sai.

The figure grunted and heaved his axe, resting it on his broad shoulders. He shot Sakura a look and chuckled.

In a flash, the figure moved with uncanny speed to someone his size and ran towards Sakura with his axe poised to attack. Sasuke let out a volley of arrows that diverted the figure's attention from Sakura as he slashed the chakra arrows in two, dispelling them upon contact.

Sakura ran towards the man and delivered a punch that the man caught with his free hand while the other swung the axe down to Sakura. An arrow deflected the incoming attack, throwing the man's hand back behind him by the force of the hit to his axe, allowing Sakura to deliver a kick to the man's head, freeing her trapped hand as she somersaulted back.

The attack did nothing to faze the figure because it managed to deliver a back kick towards Kiba, who was about to deliver a swipe from behind. Kiba grunted and was flung towards a tree when a chakra covered tiger caught him with its body. Another chakra made tiger rushed towards the figure, who brought down his axe to the man-made tiger, dispersing it.

The figure turned around and twirled his axe, deflecting the incoming arrows from Sasuke, but one stray arrow managed to pierce his shoulder.

The man howled in pain. He took the arrow's shaft and crushed it, dispersing the chakra arrow. Spurts of blood came out of the wound. He suddenly shift his body to the side and used the momentum to throw his huge axe towards Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke, seeing the axe traveling towards his direction in great speed, managed to jump to the side and evaded the axe with only a torn cloak as casualty.

"Sasuke-kun! The axe! Look out!" Sakura shouted, causing Sasuke to look behind him.

True enough, the twirling axe made a curve and traveled towards him once again, cutting the trees in its way in deadly precision.

Meanwhile, Kiba managed to tackle the hulking figure from behind, wrapping his arm around the man's head with his right claw, digging into the man's thick neck as he tried to break it.

"What have you been eating?!" Kiba growled in frustration as the figure grunted and tried to claw Kiba off his back. The struggle lasted for a short while before the man managed to grab Kiba's cloak and bent his body forward, gaining momentum to throw Kiba forward and ripping Kiba's cloak off of him. Kiba dug his claws to the ground, twisting his body so that his front is parallel to the ground. He brought his foot down and skidded to a stop before lunging towards the man once again.

A chakra panther pounced on the man from behind, causing it to twist his body to the side and dug his elbows to the head of the panther, causing it to disperse. Using the distraction, Kiba jumped with his chakra claws flaring and brought his hand down in a swipe. The man effortlessly evaded it with a step back. Kiba then twisted his body and delivered a 25 degree kick on the man's head. The kick landed, barely moving the man's head but manages to dislocate his jaw. The man looked irritated and he took Kiba's leg with both hands and started spinning before throwing Kiba into a tree.

The tree bursts into splinters the moment Kiba's body collides with it.

The man stood in the middle of the deforested area. He stroke his jaw before cracking it back into place. He managed to get back in a fighting stance the moment a pride of chakra lions darted out of the fallen logs and pounced on him.

Sai landed beside Kiba and helped him up. He surveys the damage. The trees around them had been blown away. A straight path of neatly cut trees to the right is an indication that that was the direction Sasuke had run off to after being chased by the axe. Sakura was nowhere to be found, probably chasing after her husband. Sai gritted his teeth as his eyes darted to the man who was effortlessly dispersing his lions. Sai raised his brush and quickly drew more lions in the air. Chakra poured out of his hand and unto the brush as the lions came into life and ran to join the others. He needed to create more distractions as Kiba regains his breath.

"Nothing fazes this fucker!"Kiba hissed, panting. "He is bleeding and shit but I wasn't able to even move him from that place at all! Fuck, this guy is strong! His chakra is super solid too! Did you see that axe?" He growled out before spitting blood to the side.

"I never thought I'd see the day that someone could take on four guardians." Sai stated in wonder.

"Where did they hide this guy? I don't think anybody that big could hide from us for this long." Kiba hissed irritatingly. He shot Sai a look as he pressed a finger into his left shoulder. "Hey, can you pop this back for me?" He pointed to his dislocated shoulder nonchalantly.

Sai wordlessly did what he was told, ignoring Kiba's hiss of pain.

Kiba glared at the pale man. "You know, a quick warning would be very much appreciated." He stated, moving his shoulders in a circling manner. He suddenly noticed something. He look around with his brows furrowed, confusing Sai, who also followed Kiba's actions.

"Is it me… or is Akamaru missing?" Kiba stated and made a short piercing whistle to draw Akamaru out. No dog came running in.

Sai suddenly jumped away. "Heads up! The overgrown Oni just finished massacring my lions." He stated, feeling his dispersed chakra slowly come back to him. Sure enough, only four lions remained and they're not giving the man much of a fight. In fact, the man looked positively annoyed now.

"Can you draw something bigger?" Kiba suggested, standing up straighter. His blue chakra flared once again but in a weaker state than before. He was running out of stamina.

"I'm opting on quantity over quality. Especially when Sasuke-kun and Sakura are still busy." Sai stated as he flicked his hand and another batch of lions manifested out of his drawings.

"A little help could really be appreciated right now." Kiba murmured before moving towards the enemy in a flash.

* * *

Sasuke hopped from one tree to another, causing said trees to be demolished by the still moving axe. He turned around, blindly hopping tree to tree as he draws his bow. He let go of the string and the arrow manifested shot towards the axe. The arrow burst upon contact but did not even manage to slow down the huge axe. He muttered a curse and to top things off, his back collided on a tree, causing him to grunt. He let himself fall from the branch just before the axe cleaved the place he was just standing on. That would have been him. He looks up to see the axe making a bee-line towards him and he moved once again.

 _'This is getting frustrating!'_ He thought, gritting his teeth.

He then saw Sakura just ahead of him in a familiar stance. He moved towards her as green chakra bursts out of her fists in frightening intensity. He quickened his pace and passed her with the axe right behind him.

Sakura cracked her knuckles and green chakra covered her body. She twisted her body to the right, parted her legs and shifted her center of gravity to her right foot and braced.

"SHANNAROOO!" She shouted as she brought her right fist to a punch, her green chakra concentrated on that hand.

Her fist's connects with the axe and red clashes with green.

Sasuke, who stopped right behind his wife, had to avert his eyes from the intense collision of chakras. His bow slowly turned semi-solid before returning back to his body. Sakura's chakra quantity, when compared to his, does not even reach a quarter of his chakra. But what she lacks in quantity, she makes up in quality. Her chakra is solid, strong and sturdy. With help from Tsunade and Sakura's natural ability of perfectly manipulating chakra, she would be able to enhance her chakra and be able to use it like a rock, that's why her punches feels like being hit by a solid wall. He winced at the thought.

There was a small shock wave before Sasuke returned his attention to Sakura, just in time to see the fading dispersed red chakra.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura reached out for him. She was pale and out of breath. Her right knuckle bleeding.

Sasuke was immediately by her side, holding her upright. Her knees buckled and she tried to regain her breath.

"Thank you." Sasuke murmured.

"That was stronger than I expected. Just who is this guy?" Sakura stated, shaking the dazed feeling out of her head. She couldn't afford to faint now.

"I don't know. Never heard of him. I'll send for Ino right after this. If we survive." Sasuke stated, unconsciously taking out a handkerchief from his back pocket and dabbed the sweat off of Sakura's forehead.

"We have to get back to them. Hopefully we can overpower that guy before that axe's chakra returns back to him." Sakura pushed herself off of Sasuke. Her legs are still shaking but they need to go back. She worries on what might happen to Kiba and Sai. She cursed herself for underestimating the power of that man. She remembered the pain she felt the moment her fist made contact with the axe, the axe had lightly dug itself to her knuckle before she realized that she had to strengthen her wall of chakra. It was nothing she has ever felt, the push of that chakra.

Sasuke followed her, placing a supportive hand behind her back. He heard grunts and yells from the direction where the fight was going on. They all underestimated the cultist. He hopes that those idiots are holding their own against the cultist.

"I hope Hinata's okay. I left her quite far from here. This is the first time someone broke through the byakugan technique… I don't know the extent of the damage." Sakura said, worried. The dark haired woman was vomiting before she left her. Sakura's worried that the sudden disconnection had damaged her chakra system, and the worst part is that there's no time to contact Neji for information. She left Hinata with some tonics before she left. Hopefully, Hinata will turn out fine. She sighed and rolled her shoulders, feeling much better now. She isn't a guardian for nothing.

"Let's worry about that later." Sasuke stated and his chakra flared. A bow formed on his right hand and a katana on the left. He strapped the violet katana unto his hip and nodded to Sakura.

Both dashed towards the fray, leaving a trail of dust behind.

* * *

Kiba's head was about to be ripped off of his shoulders when an arrow struck the cultist's arm, causing him to let go of Kiba from his deadly headlock. Kiba axed kick the man before jumping away, rubbing his bruised jaw. He sighed in relief seeing Sasuke release a volley of unusually large arrows towards the cultist, forcing the cultist to finally move from his place. He also saw Sakura dashing towards the cultist but he was more worried by the fact that the axe might have followed them. They can't afford for that axe to return to its master.

Seeing that no axe emerged from behind the couple, Kiba sighed in relief once again.

"What took you long enough!? We were dying here!" He shouted towards the Uchiha's accusingly. They ignored him, obviously.

The rubble behind him moved and a bruised Sai crawled out from the clutter. Sai clicked his tongue when he surveyed the broken brush on his hand. He then plucked out some grass, tied them together and experimentally draws a panther in the air. The drawing was crude and borderline hideous, but it still made its way towards the evading cultist so Sai's fine with that.

Kiba moved towards Sai and lent him a hand.

"Damn, Akamaru carried our bags. Your brushes are there. Where is that boy?" Kiba cursed, looking around for any sign of his trusty dog.

"This will do." Sai raised his make shift brush and sends Kiba a smile. "You look like hell." He commented on Kiba's appearance.

"Says the guy who got crushed by a tree." Kiba retorted. "Come on, we need to end this once and for all."

Kiba was about to rush towards the cultist when he doubled up in pain. He coughed loudly and blood spurted out of his lips.

Sai kneeled down to his comrade. He pressed his fingers unto Kiba's back, causing the male to yelp in pain. "You busted up a lung. Stay here and use your remaining chakra to heal yourself. You will only be a burden if you join." Sai calmly stated, causing Kiba to wince at the word 'burden'.

Kiba studied the ongoing fight. Sakura was now in engaging hand to hand combat with the cultist. This time the cultist was actually visibly taking physical damage. Sakura's punches are after all on par with the cultist. But Kiba also noticed how slow Sakura's movements are compared to the hulking man, causing her to take more damage despite Sasuke distracting the man with a volley of arrows or sometimes switching with Sakura and fight the man with his katana. He gritted his teeth as he studied their enemy. The cloak that the man had was now in tatters. The man was now bare-chested and bleeding. Every punch he throws, blood spurts from his injuries. Then why is he not slowing down? Why is he not calling unto his chakra?

"This guy…"

"He's a monster." Sai continued for Kiba.

Kiba was about to say something more when a purple flash passed right beside them. He saw the flowing black hair of the blur and he cursed.

"Hinata!"

* * *

Hinata narrowed her eyes at the opponent before her. He was large, larger than what she saw through her byakugan.

"Hinata! What are you doing here?" Sakura asked as Sasuke lunged towards the cultist with his sword drawn. The cultist managed to evade most of Sasuke's precise strikes.

"I feel fine now." She was still a bit nauseous but she won't tell Sakura that. "I couldn't ignore Kiba-kun and Sai-kun's shouts. It sounded like you needed help." Hinata stated, dropping into a fight stance. Her eyes glazed and purple tendrils once again shot out of her body, only this time they are thinner and only encompassed half a kilometer around the area.

This attracts the cultist's attention and turned towards Hinata, giving Sasuke an opening, who thrusts his katana to the man's belly, causing him to yell in pain. Sasuke jumps back, taking his katana with him. The cultist palms his bleeding stomach and holds up his bloodied hand.

"So many pests." The man growled and closed his fists. Red chakra flowed out of his hands. "You have pushed me too far." He continued.

Red chakra bursts out of the man's body, forming into an even bigger axe than before. One that is as tall as the seven foot cultist.

"…Fuck." Hinata heard Kiba curse.

Hinata moved before the red chakra could solidify. She sent an open palm strike to the man's chest, causing an audible umph from her target, this distracted the man and Hinata shot Sakura a look. Sakura, seeing Hinata's intention, dashed to the giant's back before jumping and delivering a downward punch on the man's head, sending him to the ground. But the man landed on his hand and knees. His chakra axe solidified and he blindly swung it to his back. Sakura, who was still airborne saw the axe coming towards her. Before the axe could touch her, she was jerked to the side and both Hinata and Sakura rolled onto the ground until they stopped.

The axe returned to its owner and the man looked up. His eyes flashing towards Sasuke before moving right in front of Sasuke with his axe raised above him. It happened so fast that it was like the man disappeared for a second.

Sasuke's bow reshaped itself into a sword. He crossed the swords into an X and that stopped the axe from cleaving him in half.

"You were the one who shot me that first arrow. Now you'll be the first to die." The man growled to Sasuke as pushed Sasuke to his knees.

Sasuke's arms bulged in effort to stop the axe. He huffed in effort pushing right back. The blade is just a few inches from his face.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted as she pushed herself off the ground and ran towards Sasuke.

Hinata, who was faster than Sakura, reached man first. She was about to kick the man's stomach from the side when the cultist raised his right foot and axe kicked her to the ground.

With the only one foot planted on the ground, Sasuke used this to unbalance the cultist and push him off of him. The cultist stumbled back and Sasuke jumped back. The cultist regained his footing just in time to block a roundhouse kick from Sakura and throw her to the nearest tree.

"I will kill you after him." He promised Sakura before turning his sights on Sasuke again.

Hinata, who had pushed herself to her feet, was about to attack again when she saw something that made her gasp. She turned her head to the direction of the village just in time to see about ten figures enter the now cleared forest area.

"What is going on here? The sound's not pleasing to the ear!" Another huge guy, albeit smaller than the cultist, rapped.

"I don't think your rapping is appreciated right now Kirabi-sama." A younger man stated as he observed the situation.

Most of the men who came with the two figures gaped at the sight of five of the twelve guardians battered and bruised while their opponent, a huge opponent, is now glaring at them with distaste.

It was Sasuke who recognized the newcomers "Kirabi! Darui!"

"Ooooh! Sasuke konoyaro!" Kirabi called waving towards Sasuke, causing Darui to wince at Kirabi's disrespect towards a Guardian.

"Sasuke-sama, it has been awhile. And who is this?" Darui stated, pointing towards the cultist.

"More pests. I have been side tracked long enough." The cultist growled as the red chakra, which was hovering on him thickened.

The chakra was so overpowering that the men accompanying Kirabi and Darui were brought to their knees like they couldn't take the weight of the atmosphere around them. Darui fell to one knee and he stared wide eyed at the spectacle.

The cultist's chakra was now swirling around him like cloak. It was more than what Sasuke expected. No wonder they were having trouble defeating this guy. He has the strongest chakra system Sasuke has ever seen. The chakra was so potent that the fallen logs and leaves near the cultist started rotting.

Hinata jumped back towards Sakura. Her chakra tendrils recoiled and went back to her the moment the cultist's chakra started to leak from him.

"Sakura-chan? What's happening?" She asked Sakura, still looking wide eye towards the cultist.

"I-I don't know. This is the first time I've ever seen chakra like this." Sakura answered, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

"I have grown tired of this squabble. I have decided to kill you all at the same time. I had fun with our little fight though." The cultist casually stated, shooting a look towards Sasuke. Then his chakra started to spread.

"Get back!" Sasuke shouted and jumped back.

Sai took Kiba's arm and placed it around his shoulders and did the same. Sakura and Hinata stayed together until they reached the place where the Kirigakure soldiers stood.

The freshly fallen logs, the plants, anything that the red chakra touched died, their nature chakra descending to the ground to return to the will of fire. The cultist clicked his tongue at this.

"It is a shame that I could not absorb that chakra yet. But someday, my son and I will just like Kaguya-sama. This is what my son desires and I will give him everything he wants." The cultist mused to himself.

* * *

"We can't let this reach the village!" Darui shouted in alarm, seeing the spreading red chakra.

"What do you suppose we do?" Kirabi who stopped rapping upon seeing the dire situation, turned towards Sakura. "Uchiha-san is said to be the most knowledgeable amongst her fellow Guardians."

Sakura shook her head. "I have no idea what's happening right now. Chakra is not supposed to behave like a toxic fog."

Sai dropped Kiba right next to sputtering Darui. Kiba wheezed and brought a hand towards his chest and his hand glowed blue as he started healing himself one more.

Sai turned to Sakura. "People like him-" He jerked his head towards the cultist who was about half a kilometer away from them. "-are not supposed to exist too."

"Sasuke-kun, what does this man want?" Hinata asked, kneeling beside Kiba and hands him one of the tonics that Sakura had left for her.

Sasuke moved closer to the group, his attention still directed towards the swirling red mass. "He wants Naruto he said. Assuming Naruto really is their Lady's 'chosen'." He explained.

A frown touched Hinata's face but was quickly replaced with determination. "I won't let her have him."

"N-Naruto? Lady? What is going on!? Why are you all going to the village?" A man who was part of Kirabi's guards sputtered.

"There's no Naruto in the village." Another one supplied.

Kirabi shot Darui a look, whose eyes widened in recognition.

"Could it be-"

Whatever Darui was going to say was cut off with another wail from the men behind them.

"Why are we all just standing here while this thing is creeping towards us!?" Someone whined, causing Kiba to chuckle and regretted it for the pain it caused to his chest.

"He has a point." Kiba stated.

"We have to try something." Hinata stood up, her eyes blazing with determination.

And suddenly, a bark caught their attention.

"Akamaru!" Kiba joyfully called, seeing his canine companion standing on a hill not far from where they're standing.

A figure emerged behind Akamaru. The dog joyfully turned his attention to his current companion, his eyes brimming with adoration. He barked at the figure like he was telling it to 'hurry up'. A familiar chuckle was heard.

Hinata's eyes widened in recognition. She knows that laugh in her heart. Unstoppable tears pooled in her eyes.

"What do we have here buddy?" The figure coed at Akamaru. "You're such a good boy, leading me to a bunch of damsels in distress."

Sakura gasps as the figure came into view. It was a red haired man, about as tall as her husband, although not as handsome (For nobody beats her husband in her eyes), was pleasing to the eyes. There was something familiar about him though. She couldn't point her finger on it.

"What's Akamaru doing? That's a civilian!" Kiba stated, pushing himself off of the ground with a wince. He then whistled for his dog ready to chastise him for getting a civilian involved.

"Yuudai-kun!" Darui exclaims.

The red haired man ignored Darui's call and faced the cultist's direction.

It was then that they had noticed that the cultist had moved towards them and was now standing not that far away from them. The red chakra had also receded and the cultist's attention was solely focused on the newcomer.

Sasuke thought of creeping silently towards the distracted cultist and slit his throat open when the familiar red haired man had spoken once again.

"OI! You evil marshmallow! You're not supposed to be here!" The person named Yuudai shouted in such a familiar speech pattern that it tugged at Sasuke's memory.

The cultist ignored the jab. "The tides have shifted, the prophecy is no more. Prophecies break once they are known. My Goddess knows of the prophecy."

Shock flits to the red-haired man's face before he masked this with irritation. "I see. This changes everything then. That means you lose your importance to me. You were supposed to do something else in the prophecy, but now…now you're useless." Then, the red head smiled. A very sinister smile.

In a flash that shocked the group, the red head shot like a shooting star towards the cultist. The two collided in cloud of dust.

"What the-!" Kiba exclaimed, completely shocked at the turn of events.

Akamaru happily skipped to Hinata's side and nudged her hand, wanting her praise. Hinata just placed a hand on Akamaru's head. It was then that Sai noticed that Hinata's eyes are overflowing with tears, but a smile graces her lips.

The dust subsided. The group gasped at the scene.

The cultist is up in the air. A sandy yellow tail is embedded in his stomach. He seems unperturbed by this, but a visible wince grazes his face when the tail moves. The red head stood unscathed with his arms crossed on his chest as he gave a disappointed look at the cultist. The group may not see it, but his eyes glowed yellow as he spoke.

"You are one determined motherfucker. Look at you, you're littered with stabs. I don't blame them though, there's a certain giddy pleasure in stabbing you." Like to prove his point, another yellow tail emerged from the red head's back and stabbed the cultists shoulder.

"I am ordered to fetch you. You are chosen as the consort of the Goddess Kaguya." The cultist stated, not even minding the fact that blood was currently flowing out of his mouth.

Yuudai grimaced. "Don't say that, you're making Shukaku really excited. It's creeping me out, Kintaro. That's your name right? Kintaro? And your son Momotaro?"

The mention of his son finally rose a reaction from the cultist. "His name is Momoshiki!"

"Ahhh, a dedicated father. Me too! Let's talk about our sons over tea next time, but for now-"A smile graced Yuudai's lips. "- Go back to your goddess and tell her no thanks. I'm a married and faithful man." With that, Yuudai's tail threw the cultist away, leaving a trail of broken trees from where the cultist's body was thrown.

The red head's back was facing them. Sakura can hear him mutter some things to himself, like he was arguing with himself. In a split second, the man's hair turned blond. Hinata broke into a run.

"Hinata!" Kiba called, running after Hinata.

Sakura shot Sai a look before following as well. Sasuke and the other followed after.

LINEBREAK

 _ **'So everything we did, it was all for nothing.'**_ Isobu cursed.

 _ **'Everything happens for a reason. The rest is up to us now.'** _ San Goku stated.

 _ **'This is no big deal! You are all overreacting!**_ ' Kokuo added.

 _ **'This is the end… Our mission has failed.'**_ Saiken moaned.

 _'Shut up! All of you! You're crowding my mind!'_ Yuudai hissed, grabbing his head. _'How can I think of what to do next if you all speak at the same time!?'_

 ** _'We do the thinking for you, child.'_ ** Matatabi stated, causing a deeper voice inside Yuudai's head to chuckle.

 _ **'I don't mean to irritate you master, but your disguise has fallen. You are very stressed Master.'**_ Chomei commented.

Yuudai's hand flew to his hair and he plucked a strand to see that indeed his hair had turned blond. He was about to reinstate his disguise when a soft voice muttered his name, a name that he had forgotten already.

"Naruto-kun..?"

That soft, soft voice. He felt her presence, her chakra behind him. For the first time in a long time, his heart skipped a beat. A warm feeling spread through his being. Like feeling sunlight once again after a long stay inside a dark cold cave. Then he felt anxiety. He's so different now. What if-

He slowly turned around. The moment his eyes meets hers, all of the anxiety he felt faded away. In fact everything seemed to fade away. The voices, the burden he carries, and the place they were standing in. All he can see is her beautiful silver eyes wet with tears. She was bruised. Her lower lip was split and swollen. But in his eyes, she was as beautiful as the day he left her.

"Naruto-kun." She stated. She smiled underneath the tears and the grime. Her hand reached for him.

"Is…is that my name?.." He murmured.

Then he felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck. Everything suddenly returned. He felt his consciousness begin to fade away.

"Naruto-kun!"

"It's Narut-"

"Sai how dar-"

"I thought we had to detai-"

"Not like tha-"

 _ **'You brat! Pay atten-'**_

 _ **'Hang on chi-'**_

"Naruto-kun!"

 _'…Damn… I was careless…'_

Then everything faded to black…

* * *

Editor's notes: I, along with the author, do apologize for our lateness in this chapter. Stuff happens, and we both got pretty busy. I am sure I have annoyed the author with constant reminders to update her stories and hopefully she doesn't kill me haha. Anyway, hopefully we will bring you guys more updates soon, as she and I are working on the next chapter of Return as we speak! We have plans…oh do we have plans…muahahahah…uh ahem.. Anyway.. For those that have stuck with us, hopefully you will find this chapter to your liking.

Author's notes: As Gio-san was saying, sorry for the delay. College life completely sucked me dry. But hopefully we can make regular updates now. :D I want to finish this story before the summer ends.

The Byakugan behaves like a spiderweb in this fic.


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